Puppets of Power
by obsessedatopia
Summary: When Storybrooke wakes up drained of magic it is down to Emma and Regina to find out why! With little information (and even less of a plan) they must balance their instinct and experience to trust the unknown and dive into a mysterious land while trying to find out what (or who) could be behind the power outage. Emma/Regina magic partnership adventure. Post S5 canon pairings/story.
1. Drained

**_A/N: Hello readers! I am mainly a Fosters person, but venturing for the first time into OUAT fanfic (and actually the fandom...) so please be gentle._**

 ** _Although I don't really fit into any ships I love Regina and Emma's friendship and dynamic and I wanted to do a little adventure story that focussed on them working together. The story is mainly adventure and character interaction so I have kept the canon pairings as is (though they don't really impact on the story). As I've tried to stick to canon as best I could there are spoilers for all 5 seasons. It's probably set a few months to a year after where the show is currently at (end of 5A) and as we don't know what will happen in 5B I've kind of left that ambiguous. Let's just assume that they rescued Hook as I imagine that is where the show will go and for simplicity I have left out any mention of Gold as I really don't know what will happen with that!_**

 ** _Anyhow, it's just a little fun to explore the things I have loved about Regina and Emma's kind of mentor/student/friend mentality at various stages in the show and I've tried to stay as true to characters as I can, balancing between their flaws, strengths and quirks from across all seasons._**

 ** _Thanks for giving it a go and I hope that some people enjoy it. If it's not for you, thanks for getting this far!_**

* * *

 _ **A long, long time ago...**_

 _"It's destroyed! I need it back! I need more!" A rabid figure burst through the wizard's doorway. The figure was someone he had once known but his flowing brown hair had been replaced with wirey grey strands and his face was now gaunt with a new flash of madness in his eyes._

 _"You betrayed your intentions, King. I warned you."_

 _"They're after me. This is all I have left! They tried to destroy it and now they seek to destroy me!" He clawed at the wizard's sleeve before he was sent flying back with a blast from the staff in at the end of his other._

 _"You may have robbed this land's magic but you are still at the mercy of mine, Caradagh."_

 _"And I need the magic!" His eyes sparkled with desperation. "Give me your help. Make me another!" The tall, slender wizard scanned the creature before him. He was a shadow of the man who had come to him just two years before; aged by sudden power and dominance beyond his means that had collapsed around him even swifter than it had appeared._

 _"I will help you once more, King." The wizard squinted as he slammed his staff onto the ground. The house around them fell away and they were suddenly exposed to a howling wind on a vast mountain top. The dishevelled mortal grabbed his cloak tight, gazing up at the magician while trying to shield himself from the elements._

 _"You're going to help? You're going to make it whole again?" He gasped, falling to his knees and clasping his hands in prayer as snow and spit flew from his mouth._

 _The wizard didn't answer, instead he raised his staff to the dark winter sky. Carving a circular path through the air, the clouds above began to disperse and a green glow from the northern lights began to peek through. The top of his staff began to flicker and flash with the same colour as the lights dancing above, cracking out lightning bolts of pure green energy._

 _The ground behind him began to fall into a blue swirl. The earth they were standing on began to shake and move as he was gutting the inside of the mountain and stretching it out. The blue subsided to turn into a gaping dark hole into the cavity below and the wizard outstretched his arm._

 _"This is the best way I can help you, Caradagh." The wizard boomed before flicking his hand and drawing open the king's napsack. "You and everybody."_

 _The king's face flushed with horror as an object floated from his bag and hovered over the hole._

 _"If I can't protect the world from it I will at least protect it from the world."_

 _"No!" The king yelped as he dived off his feet and launched himself at the wizard's staff._

 _The king's screech fell to silence as he grasped at the top of the staff. The sparks flying from it zapped right through him, knocking him lifeless. As he dropped he managed to connect with his beloved contraption but all life within him was soon drained. The wizard swung his stick sending the body crashing into the darkening void as the world closed up above it._

* * *

"I'm tired, bored and not in the mood." Emma growled.

"Are they the three lesser known dwarves your mother keeps in the basement?" Regina raised an eyebrow as she strode into the Sheriff's office. "Well don't worry, I can at least solve the 'bored' issue." Emma didn't even open her eyes as she lay slouched back in her chair.

"The town may have been slow of late but you're still being paid - and if you wish to keep being so I suggest you get these filled in and returned to me by the end of the week." Regina added, slapping a file on Emma's desk. "That time of year again." The sheriff opened a single eye to look at the file and hesitantly flopped a hand on top of it to take a look inside.

"Accounts? This is meant to make me _less_ bored?" She whined, tossing it back on the desk as Regina leaned against the edge of the opposite end.

"And I want to see some reflection on our new initiative on vandalism."

"I'm sure your tree being graffitied was a one time thing, Regina. I think a two month incarceration and community service order for what is probably a group of bored teens keying "I heart apples" into the mayor's apple tree is a slight over reaction."

"Well you would think that. You once hacked a branch off it." Regina growled back, not having found the humour in the incident.

"Well unlike that time, I'm sure this one was just a misunderstanding." Emma batted it away, hoping to change the subject from another rant. "Anyway, this will take forever, can I not outsource it to someone else. Hire an accountant or something?"

"Maybe we can get one for next year if you outline the budget in the document." Regina replied with a patronising smile tapping it as Emma sighed, unimpressed. "Either way it looks to me like a paperwork day may be a good thing. You hardly look in a state to be chasing criminals around."

"What criminals?" Emma finally pushed herself off her chair to pour a couple of coffees from the pot. "Aside from your little tree episode we haven't had any action around here since we came back from our little trip down under."

"And you're missing fighting for your life every day?" She scoffed. "I thought after everything we went through dragging the pirate back from the underworld you wanted some peace."

"No." Emma replied firmly. "Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. Less magic around here has been a welcome change, trust me." She handed Regina a filled up cup. "I'm just grumpy. Thanks to a couple of crazy dreams I only got a couple of hours sleep last night."

Regina creased her forehead taking the drink. "You too?" She replied, thinking back to her own interrupted night. "Maybe our collective subconscious is trying to remember the good old days." She too had been feeling the effects of a lack of sleep and a strangely deflated morning. She would never admit it to Emma, but it was partially why she had decided to deliver the forms rather than sit alone in her office. If there was one thing Regina had learned, it was that being alone didn't help raise your spirits when you were feeling down.

Taking a sip of the coffee. Regina immediately grimaced. "Good lord, Swan. No wonder you're crabby. How do you drink this?"

Emma shrugged without reply. It wasn't exactly Granny's quality but she didn't have any complaints.

"Here. Maybe this will cheer us both up a bit." Regina commented, waving her hand at their cups. Looking down at the unchanged beverages, Emma raised her eyebrows at the former queen. She waved her hands and tried again.

"Are you trying to swat a fly or something?" Emma winced.

"I'm trying to get us lattes. What's going on?" Regina tried again but to no avail. She hadn't felt this powerless until just after the first curse had broken. Her tired brain catching up, Emma finally broke into a smirk.

"Need a power boost?" She teased, but Regina was too confused to register the prod. Seeing the concern growing on her face, Emma sat straighter and flicked her own hand to the same result. Now both women were sporting bemused looks.

"What does this mean?" She asked nervously. Before Regina could answer they were interrupted by a loud clatter of the door.

"Someone stole our magic!" Leroy's familiar panic boomed through the room. He was surrounded by his usual posse, a couple still sporting their pickaxe and with two of the nun-fairies in tow.

* * *

"Everybody calm down." Regina tried to settle the bustling crowd in the town hall, banging her gavel, as various inhabitants were voicing their panic.

"Most of you didn't even have magic." She added, irritated.

"Yeh, and it's all too convenient for someone to keep it that way!" Leroy shouted back.

"Regina is right. We need to keep a cool head." Archie piped up.

"But if nobody has powers then what if there is a threat from the outside?" Belle asked, trying to speak over the buzz and looking directly at Emma in her position just behind Regina. Her body was contorted into a tight clasp, her leather sleeves wrapped around her chest in awkward denial. It could have been the weariness but she had a strange feeling about this and not in the way she felt she should.

"Belle has a point. If someone stole the magic that could be to weaken us as part of a wider plan." Robin added as Regina threw him a glare, noting the instant surge in further paranoia of the rabble before her.

"That is not helpful." She whispered harshly to her partner as he threw his hands up, though she couldn't help but think the same thing.

"Enough. Enough." She tried to call order again with the piercing bangs on the stand. "Does anybody have any information at all about what happened? When was the last time anybody used magic?" She looked round to Emma, knowing she was the most likely candidate other than herself.

"Don't look at me." Emma shrugged awkwardly before looking across to Hook and remembering what magic had put them through over the last year. Regina nodded in understanding. They had long come to peace with what had occurred, but the respite from magic and its consequences that had followed had been a welcome relief. Thinking back to her own routines, Regina realised she had reduced her usage dramatically as well. With her life being more dedicated to Robin and their little family there had been a lot less time and a lot less need for supernatural hobbies.

"We used some yesterday." Mother Superior spoke up."And I've certainly been feeling more drained today. I could tell something was wrong as soon as I awoke."

"Was there any sign of broken entry to the mines?" The mayor added as the dwarfs responded. "They just look empty. As if something sucked them clean out again."

"Well we can't rule out that this attack was co-ordinated and deliberate. I will put together a task force and we will do what we can to locate what's ours and restore it as soon as possible." Regina stated clearly as Emma continued to shuffle awkwardly, reliving the dream and slipping back into her tired state.

"What if we don't need it back?" She piped up, more thinking aloud than anything else. Her comment was met by a stunned silence as she finally edged her gaze up to catch Regina's glare, looking more perturbed than angry, even in response to the increasingly restless audience.

"Emma..." A pregnant Mary Margaret interjected, slightly shocked at her daughter's response. With their third child on the way the last thing she wanted was a third pregnancy in danger."Not that we can't or won't just..." She began to backtrack, darting her eyes between all of those pointed to her. "I just mean that how are we going to track it without magic anyway? Or be able to find it." Her voice trailed stubbornly feeling Regina's chastising look strengthen.

"Not even the saviour is going to help?" Leroy asked angrily as more murmurs of fear followed.

"Your saviour and _sheriff_ will be helping just like the rest of us." Regina settled them again, putting her fear over Emma's defiance aside for the moment. "And I may have a solution to obtain some temporary magic. Right now we just all need to not panic, carry on business as usual and be rest assured that we _will_ get to the bottom of this." She asserted a firm look towards Emma who acknowledged it with a head tilt, accepting the reprimand for the timing of her comment. As Regina adjourned the meeting and the masses departed the usual task force had already begun to self assemble without prompting.

"What is the matter with you, Emma?" She whispered harshly before the others worked their way over. "What were you thinking saying that in front of the whole town? They may not have needed you as a saviour for a while but you're still their sheriff. They trust in you."

"They trust in us because we have magic which we have only needed to fight off more magic." Emma defended herself as Hook and the others approached. "I was just suggesting that maybe having a normal town without it could be a discussion worth having. Maybe this is just an opportunity."

"You don't believe that, Swan."Killian intervened, joining them. "If you were someone who gave up that easily we'd have probably had a roll around as early as in Neverland."

"You're quite the romantic." Emma rebutted the comment, unimpressed, as the pirate tipped his head with an eyebrow lift.

"I'm just wondering if now it's gone it could be less trouble to just leave it alone." She further reasoned looking back to Regina. The mayor was momentarily distracted giving Hook a look of disdain but soon noted what Emma had added.

She was geared up for a tirade but as she opened her mouth she thought about her own past experiences, Emma's attitude this morning and their mutually bad night. Pausing, she considered if that was more the key here than a genuine reluctance to return to the craft.

"You said you had that dream last night. What happened?" Regina squinted as Emma tried to think back.

"I dunno." Emma shrugged. "This shadow...thing...with a sort of...bell-shaped box...he kind of swept over me and -"

"Flew into the forest before disappearing in a flash of light?" Regina finished her sentence. Emma wavered slightly, clicking her teeth.

"This really was a shared subconscious thing, wasn't it?" She groaned, realising this would be harder to ignore than she had hoped.

"Emma, that reason you're feeling bummed out today...apathetic. That's the effects of the magic being sucked out. Trust me." Regina assured her. "You're reverting to your weakened state. You just need it back." Emma thought it over for a second, trying to think back over her past emotions with magic.

"I've lost my magic before. It's never felt like this." She disagreed, thinking it through.

"And you were probably on adrenaline. Or a different type of curse. I've been there. The reason you feel so bad is because a huge part of you has been drained."

Emma turned away, rubbing her arm nervously. "Or...maybe it just means that it has too much control and we're better without it."

"Because having control is such a bad thing..." Regina snapped back before Emma turned back gearing up for the stand off.

Seeing where this kind of tension could lead, Mary Margaret raised her hands between them.

"Arguing won't get us anywhere. We need to look at this sensibly..."

"Mom..." Emma cut her off, hurt as Mary Margaret silenced her with a gentle hand on her arm

"I don't mean that you don't have a point, but magic is part of you and this _could_ be a side effect rather than how you really feel. It's worth at least trying to find out what happened before just giving up."

"Plus, this could be a real threat. I don't think magic just expires without someone pulling the strings." David added as Regina nodded, Emma slouching back in surrender. Clearly this was a battle she wasn't going to win, and after all, she knew they could have a point. Regina was rarely wrong about things like this and she did feel more physically exhausted than she usually would after a restless night.

"You said you had a way of getting temporary magic?" Belle had now joined them, prompting Regina to get back to business. "I do. At least I hope I do. A few little contingency plans based on the last few times we've been burned. I just hope my preservation spells were strong enough to have kept them. Belle, I need you to find out whatever you can on shadows, portals...bell/box thingys..." She listed, trying to remember what she could from the dream.

"That's not much to go on." Belle winced, knowing how hard portals had been in the past.

"Well I'm afraid it's all we've got for now. You three..." she looked at her former nemeses as they stared back at her waiting for their task. "I need you to step into our shoes while we've gone. Mary Margaret...you know your way around the mayor's office. Hold the fort..." She added reluctantly. As much as she now trusted them, she was still never entirely comfortable putting power in their hands. "But the decorating stays exactly as is..." She added firmed, remembering their past exchange of roles. "David, you can be the face of the sheriff's office while we're away. Hook..." she paused looking him up and down. "I don't know what I need you to do but make it useful."

"Wait, where am I gonna be?" Emma winced as Regina looked her up and down.

"You? You're coming with me. We're gonna find your inner saviour again." She ordered striding forward towards the door.

"I guess stuff is about to get interesting again." She muttered, raising her eyebrows to Hook as he squeezed her shoulders and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"We haven't got all day, Swan." Regina called through as Emma sighed, resigning to her duty. Regina had to be right about one thing though, she couldn't feel much more disillusioned than she did right now.

* * *

 ** _Thanks for reading. Reviews always appreciated if they're encouraging, funny or constructive!_**

 ** _Next chapter preview:_**

 ** _"You've lost confidence in yourself." Regina finally mused. "You're not just retreating, you're losing your belief again."_**

 ** _"What?" Emma squinted as Regina tried to think back over other methods. She had been teaching her for a long time now and knew Emma better almost better than she knew herself. "You need a kick. We said before it's always been adrenaline that has avoided this before. Time to generate some."_**

 ** _"Regina?" Emma queried nervously as the sorceress got an excited glint over her teeth before disappearing in a puff of smoke._**


	2. Rejuvenation

_**Thanks for the reviews friends! I thought I'd post Chapter 2 right away to get the establishment chapters moving a bit quicker but I'll probably leave it a few days before the next.**_

 _ **Also thanks to Laura for all of her help with this story!**_

* * *

The two women made their familiar trek down to Regina's vault. Regardless of how many times she had been within it, it still filled Emma with a chilling reminder of how much her life had changed - even if for the better.

"If you have a preservation spell on some type of magic why didn't you just do that for everything?" Emma asked, a slight hint of insolence in her voice.

"Magic isn't a limitless supply, you know. And the balance is important. There needs to be just enough to slip below radars and just enough to not burn out. You may be powerful, Emma, but there is still a lot that comes from experience." Regina muttered as she struggled to prize open open a vault on the wall.

"You forgot you put the emergency magic behind broken magic?" Emma smirked as Regina threw her another glare. Instead of rising to the bait, she decided to torture her companion a different way. Forcing her to reflect.

"So, what do you think has made you give up on magic then, wise one?" She demanded, wincing as she continued to lever at the latch. Emma's immediate recoil showed that the jibe method had worked as payback. The lock finally clicked open as Emma perched against the wall trying to find an answer. She thought back through her experiences of the past few years and as she filtered through all the times she had fought against her power, she failed to find one where she hadn't resolved to want to keep it. Catching Regina's knowing gaze, she began to admit to herself that the theory about this being a side effect of the magic drain was gaining evidence.

"I just think we should consider whether this was something non malicious. Something more...destined." She bluffed, not wanting to concede just yet.

"Well either way, if this was destiny then these shouldn't be working either." Regina pulled out a collection of amulets, each dormant but with a glisten of the light catching the corner of their silverware.

"If there's one thing you taught me, Emma, it was to be prepared for unexpected disruptions." She added, placing one around her neck. As it settled, Emma saw a purple flash of light glaze over the main stone.

"Glad I could help." She mumbled bluntly, her eyes trapped by the glow of the necklace.

"The first time we were magicless here in Storybrooke I had to give up every trinket I had because I had run out of my supply and didn't have enough to cast a spell. After that point and a few other scares I decided to always be prepared and distil some magic. Pour it into these amulets. It's just about the one good thing I learned from my sister."

"What was the spell for? Trying to kill me?" Emma asked with a hint of a laugh, but seeing Regina's un-phased expression, the smile faded as she was reminded that a few years ago that wouldn't have had any humour in its reality. "Right..." She added with a flush of embarrassment. Regina held the second amulet out to her as Emma watched it dancing on its chain in front, hesitant to take it.

"Don't you see what I mean though? Things are pretty good right now." She looked back to Regina who was standing motionless, firm in her task despite her delaying tactics. "We're all friends. Family. Nobody's trying to kill each other."

"And that all happened with our magic." Regina reminded her, impatiently. "Besides, us all living in friendship land and not killing each other doesn't mean nothing else is trying to kill us. All it means is that we're defencelessly living in friendship land."

"We don't _know_ something else is trying to kill us..."

"Winged shadows invaded our dreams and scoured our bodies of magic." Regina jerked the necklace down again in frustration. "If you can't see anything suspicious in that, Sheriff, we really need to have a discussion about your position. Now take it or I'll make you take it using mine." She ordered as Emma rolled her eyes an finally relented. Seeing the genuine nervousness in her handling of the jewellery, Regina softened a little from her tough love stance.

"Look, I get it. Your entire history with magic has been over a short period of time. It's been a roller coaster." She sympathised, thinking back over the harder challenges they had faced. "A complete but subtle magic drain after such a tumultuous period with magic has hit you hard and it's knocked you right back to where you were at the beginning. You just need to remember what it feels like to use it again. It's perfectly normal to fall back to back habits when you have had a physical change like this. We all revert to our survival instincts. You retreat, I get more irritable and defensive..." She reassured her, acknowledging her own flaws as Emma screwed up her face.

"You seem absolutely normal." She replied, petulantly as Regina threw her another glare.

"Fine. Then don't push me further." She jested, squinting her eyes and motioning to the necklace as Emma finally put it round her neck. The same occurred as with Regina's as the glow flowed down it. She watched it go and closed her eyes, trying to feel any difference it could have.

"Now," Regina commanded. "Let's see if this worked." She flicked her arms and the two of them disappeared in a wisp of purple smoke.

"Thank goodness for that!" She sighed with relief. "See, experience. Now you do something." Regina suggested, looking at the forest around them.

Emma looked around and waved her arms, though nothing seemed to occur before shrugging towards Regina.

"Unless something invisible is doing a dance for us, you're not trying hard enough." She reprimanded in an unimpressed tone as Emma raised her hands up.

"Maybe it just didn't work. Maybe it only works with your magic?"

"Don't try and tell me how my spells work. Me doing this alone is not an option. You're one of the most naturally gifted people I know and we need your help too. I need your help. Now try again!" Regina hit back. This reluctant Emma was pushing the buttons she had done at a much earlier stage in their companionship.

Not wanting to push too far, Emma closed her eyes and tried to concentrate, focussing back to the first times she'd tried to learn the craft.

"Come on, you remember how to do it, don't you?" Regina prodded, wondering if her old technique of ruffling her feathers may work. "Show me what you've got, Saviour."

"You're not helping..." Emma growled as Regina moved closer, trying not to break her façade.

"It looks like you don't even need to give up on magic. It's giving up on you." She baited. "You're the one who always plays the hero, why did I get mine back and you're still as powerless as your useless parents?"

"That's not helping!" The blonde fired back as the amulet whizzed but ultimately nothing happened, now making Regina a little more scared. Emma had come so far, she had expected it to come back a lot faster than this. She looked her friend up and down as Emma breathed slowly, her insecurities whizzing round her head. She couldn't tell if she was relieved it wasn't working or disappointed. Right now everything just felt empty and everything about her was jaded.

"You've lost confidence in yourself." Regina finally mused. "You're not just retreating, you're losing your belief again."

"What?" Emma squinted as Regina tried to think back over other methods. She had been teaching her for a long time now and knew Emma better almost better than she knew herself. "You need a kick. We said before it's always been adrenaline that has avoided this before. Time to generate some."

"Regina?" Emma queried nervously as the sorceress got an excited glint over her teeth before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

"Regina! Please, not this again. Maybe it is to do with the amulet...maybe it just doesn't connect to my power..." She looked around to try and find a sign of the missing witch, growing agitated as she suddenly felt herself sucked away again. She was now catapulted to the beach."This isn't funny..."

"The amulet is fine." A voice boomed back, although it was still missing a body that Emma was desperately looking around for. "You're the one not connecting with it." It added as Emma swirled to check behind her. A flash landed by her feet and she was whipped away again back to the forest.

"Will you quit that? Just let me try again!" Emma added, her voice now becoming more flustered.

"You want to try again, try again. I'm still here...I'm helping you!" Regina cackled, materialising for a second, as 3 balls of fire hit by Emma's right side.

"By trying to kill me? We were just talking about how we were past that!" Emma blasted as she roll ducked out the way.

"If I was trying to kill you I would have gone for your left. You are always slower on the uptake if I hit on the left. I know how you fight, Miss Swan, now you try and remember."

"Regina -"

"Stop complaining and _fight_ me!" Regina appeared behind her offering a blast that sent Emma to the floor. She could feel the rage growing inside her, the taunts finally working as she felt a surge through her and finally felt a rush through the amulet. Blasting her arms forward both her and Regina were zipped back to the beach where Emma, now in control, whipped up a wave of sand that she sent crashing over Regina, but it wasn't powerful enough to complete its task.

"Good... _good!"_ Regina laughed as she scattered the sand with a blast and conjured a sword in Emma's hand to match one in her own. "Now let's see your reflexes!" She smiled, a wicked glimmer in her eye as they suddenly appeared on the familiar wooden, slat bridge.

"I've got magic back..." Emma struggled to say between each sword clang of a relentless Regina while attempting to balance her footing on the shaking bridge. "Why...are you...not...stopping?" She grimaced as she ducked and flew, Regina's eyes not breaking gaze.

"Because you're still only defending yourself, Swan. You're better than me with a sword. You need to _lead._ You need to want it!" Regina hissed, breathless in her own way but determined to complete Emma's restoration.

"Why does that matter?" She yelled back, still desperately trying to fend off the constant stream of attack, added now to a fireball or two flying by as she blasted a ball of light of her own. Finally having had enough of these games she zipped Regina's sword straight form the air and sent the witch flying back to cling on the rope of the bridge.

Panting desperately, Emma looked down and saw Regina was not attempting to restore herself.

"We know we're not going to kill each other. What is this even achieving?" Emma breathed out trying to re-fill her lungs from the exhaustion.

"It's not your wanting to kill me I'm trying to fix." Regina grinned as Emma winced through the pain in confusion.

"It's your wanting to save us." Regina grabbed the amulet on her neck and before Emma could yell her name, Regina had magically slashed the bridge edge, collapsing it down before ripping off her amulet. All three began plummeting downwards, Emma using her last force of projection from the bridge to dive forward and grab the speeding rope as she watched her friend fall, voluntarily powerless, and still with a maniacal grin. In a split second she felt another surge and waved her arms in a determined slash as both she and Regina zipped into a puff of light, both of them materialising on the edge of a hill, rolling downwards and splattering metres apart from each other in the grass.

"What is with you and that bridge?!" Emma yelled, spitting out some grass from her mouth and wincing in pain, panting again from the ordeal. "What if that hadn't have worked or I hadn't seen you take off the amulet?!"

"Do you feel it?" Regina glowed, ignoring Emma's protests and placing her necklace back on. She was more possessed by her own adrenaline rush than bothered by the pain of the landing.

Emma was about to fire back again but paused for a moment, feeling the pace of her heart. Regina was right. The doubt was gone. She could feel her sudden confidence flowing through and pumping with every pound of her heart.

"I'm grateful and all, but can we work on your methods please?" She gasped collapsing back as Regina laugh and heaved herself up before offering a hand to Emma.

"I'll change my methods when you change how hard it is to break down your walls." Regina puffed before forcefully grabbing the arm that Emma had been reluctant to give. She pulled her up as Emma finally gripped back, grabbing onto Regina's shoulder for support and then dusting herself off. She rubbed her face down and squinted into the sun.

"How do we get it back then?" She asked before coughing out the last of the exhaustion and Regina took the third amulet from her pocket.

"These amulets should give us magic for several days wherever we end up. There will hopefully be magic wherever we go but it's always better to be able to use your own in case it's unpredictable. This third one we will have to use to try and reopen whatever portal they used. I think it will take up all its power. Now we need to see what the others have found about this box so we can figure out the rest."

"So we are going to chase something we don't know into a land we don't know to get our magic back from a thing we don't know?" Emma winced as they began to walk back.

"You got a better plan?" Regina challenged playfully as they began to make their way back. "Anyway, this is just what we know now. The others should have more information when we get back. I've never known Belle to fail to hunt something out."

Emma began to trek through her mind looking at all the things she had been resisting to think about before. Piecing a few together she felt another wash of confidence, the returned presence of magic guiding her senses.

"Well, lucky for you I think I do have a plan to get more clues. Looks like you did need me for this..." She smirked, her enjoyment of a challenge now emerging from the power surge.

"Oh, it's like that then! Your power has come flooding back with extra cocky. Well, I suppose your void induced whiney needed something big to fill it back up." Regina nodded, striding forward as Emma scurried behind.

"I was not whiney -" She protested as the two made their way back to the mayor's office, their bickering fading into the distance.

* * *

 _ **Next Chapter Preview:**_

 _ **"And what about for the journey back? With the amulet open it twice?" David asked as Regina looked nervously at Emma who was quickly understanding the plan. Latching onto it herself, Mary Margaret turned in horror.**_

 _ **"We're not sending you through a one way door!" She insisted looking between the two women as they both tried to avert eye contact.**_

 _ **"You did it before and that turned out OK..." Emma shrugged playfully, trying to tone things down. The quick glimpse she got of her mother's expression when she dared to look quickly proved she had failed.**_


	3. Persuasion

_**Hi all, thanks to those who've got in touch with comments. Still in the establishment chapters but the adventure is soon to begin!**_

 _ **Thanks to Laura for beta-ing. Hope you enjoy!**_

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The group were gathered around the mayor's table but with distinctly fewer books than Regina was hoping.

"I got more details of the shared dream from Mother Superior." Belle explained with a nod to the nun who was sat, graceful and composed, in the seat next to her.

"We fairies had the dream as well, along with anyone else with magic. But even based on that I'm afraid there is very little to go on." She added as Belle pushed an open book to Regina and Emma.

They both read over the page but squinted at the style of the handwriting.

"The only contraption even vaguely similar we found in Arendelle, though there is not much detail and we don't know what it looked like. It had belonged to a king at a time there was more magic there. Its use, sucking out the magic, was how it ended up as the land it is now, with magic in short supply apart from the ancient beings and those who were able to retain it in their bloodline."

"Are we sure that wasn't the sorcerer's hat?" Emma queried, remembering her dalliance with it but seeing Mother Superior wince, she got a prompting glare from Mary Margaret who was sat round from her.

"Of course, you probably would have recognised that..." She added apologetically but the nun waved it off.

"It's OK, I thought the same at first." She nodded, giving Emma some relief that she hadn't been too traumatised by her tenure trapped inside to talk about it. "But no. Luckily whatever this thing is I don't think it is quite as powerful. If it was it would have absorbed us all, not just our magic."

"Was there anything else at all?" David asked as Belle shrugged.

"There was nothing about what happened to it after it left Arendelle - which we know it did. Probably to take the magic elsewhere. That's all we have so far."

"So we basically have nothing." Regina clarified, exasperated, as Belle shrugged.

"No. We have the portal and your plan to open it..." Emma turned to the mayor who had now stood up off her chair and begun to stroll around the table. Noting a flaw in this, Mary Margaret raised a hand.

"It's been hard enough to open portals with magic." she protested.

"Yes, but mainly to create them. Whatever this thing was did the hard job of creating one." Regina explained as Mother Superior nodded in agreement as the mayor continued. "Reopening one is never as hard and there should be enough in the final amulet to prize it open. Emma and I will be able to get through, hopefully with enough available magic on the other side for us not to have to rely on them any further."

"And do we know this thing didn't take that ability from you?" Mary Margaret followed up. The thought of her daughter being defenceless should the amulet run out was weighing on her mind. Her questions were starting to betray her ability to cover up her discomfort with the situation.

"Whatever that thing was sucked the magic from the land and whatever was left residually in us from it. It hasn't taken our ability to do magic, just any magic for us to freely use." Mother Superior answered as Regina picked up the explanation.

"As soon as we have magic available our powers should be restored, as shown with these." She flicked the amulet on her neck. "These will give us magic for days and if there is magic in that land we can channel that as a last resort."

Emma immediately picked up on her mother's growing nervousness. She had a feeling in her gut about what they had to do but she knew it wouldn't be without resistance.

"And what about for the journey back? With the amulet open it twice?" David asked as Regina looked nervously at Emma who was quickly understanding the plan. Latching onto it herself, Mary Margaret turned in horror.

"We're not sending you through a one way door!" She insisted looking between the two women as they both tried to avert eye contact.

"You did it before and that turned out OK..." Emma shrugged playfully, trying to tone things down. The quick glimpse she got of her mother's expression when she dared to look quickly proved she had failed.

"No." Mary Margaret insisted. "I don't care what you find out you're not going to risk getting trapped. There'll be another way! We just need to find it."

Regina threw her hands onto her hips. "Well if you can think of one, I'm all ears, but we need to focus on finding out what this is, not worrying about transport between realms."

"You could go to Arendelle. Find out more there...maybe there you can have a two way door." David suggested as Emma immediately rebutted it. "As Regina and Blue said, we can reopen but not create a new portal, and we certainly don't have enough magic to follow paper trail whims."

"Yes, but maybe taking more time to find information will save time in the long run." Mary Margaret pleaded, taking Emma's hand. "This morning you didn't even want your magic back..."

"And you all told me it was a bad idea..." She replied, starting to doubt if it was possible to win any discussion today.

"Emma, please. Don't rush into this." Mary Margaret whispered, her eyes locking tight with her daughter's. Feeling the guilty pressure it gave her, she quickly looked back down, playing with her fingers to distract herself from the fact she knew she was going to be defiant. She looked sheepishly up at Regina who stared back knowingly. They both knew what was about to happen and delaying it was pointless.

"I think I agree with Regina, here we are just wasting time. We need to go through that portal, wherever it leads."

"Emma!" Came the predictable chastisement.

"What?" She quickly sprung to the defensive. "I'm sorry, Mom, but you're right. This morning I _was_ practically giving up on my magic and it was a reminder of what I was before it. I really don't want to go back to that again. That feeling of uselessness and resignation. You're about to bring another little brother or sister into this world and I want us to be able to be everything we are to protect them. Sure magic has done some crappy things to us in the past, but at least we had the option to use it and fight it. Look, I think I have a plan to restore it, but we need to go over there."

"I'm in favour of restoring it Emma, but what good will that be if you're not _here_ to protect them?" Her mother replied sharply as Emma immediately softened, stuttering from her stance but no less determined.

"I will be. We all will be, I trust Regina." She winced guiltily, knowing what was coming.

"You trust Regina over me? I'm your mother!"

"Well technically I'm yours if that is supposed to carry weight." Regina scoffed at the comparison, tiring of spectating, as Mary Margaret squinted at her angrily. "Now if Emma has a plan -"

"Did you actually just play the mother card?" She cut her off in disbelief as Regina snapped her mouth shut. "You spent the vast majority of that role trying to kill me!" She cut her off furiously.

"Well then that only proves that a mother's judgement doesn't always trump sense." Regina articulated back as Emma slapped the table to try and restore order.

"Guys!" She silenced them both before taking back her Mom's hand. "Mom, I know you only want to protect me, and Regina, I think you know there's no comparison with my actual mother to one who killed her husband and slipped her step-daughter a roofie...but the blue fairy said herself, this isn't even as powerful as the sorcerer's hat and we already faced that and so much more."

"And you nearly lost yourself in doing so -" Mary Margaret whispered back as kindness and regret glazed over Emma's eyes.

"But I didn't. And all of you helped find me. Listen -" She turned to the mayor. "Once the portal has reopened, will there be any magic left in the amulet?"

"Not enough to reopen it again but a dribble maybe." Regina replied, walking back to the table and leaning against the back of a chair as Emma turned back to her mother.

"In that case once it has done, use it for a mirror and at least we'll be able to communicate." Mary Margaret took Emma's words in as she felt her husband's hand on her shoulder. She could tell what he was urging her to do and the pleading look in their daughter's eyes was both persuasive and stubborn. Most of all, however, it was safe and deep down she knew that she had faith in her, as scared as she was.

"You have a plan?" She confirmed with an obvious warning as Emma began to smile, acknowledging the submission. "I do, but I don't have time to explain it. Though it starts with what I learned that time I _did_ lose myself." She sat up straight flagging Regina with a look.

"That doesn't fill me with confidence..." Mary Margaret murmured but Emma ploughed on.

"You may have learned something from saviour Emma, Regina, but I learned something from dark me as well." She professed, jumping off her seat as Regina scrunched up her forehead, unsure of where this would lead.

"We need to know the location of the portal, right?" She asked as Mother Superior nodded in agreement. "Then what's the betting playing back our dream will show exactly where it was?"

* * *

"Is this making myself useful enough?" Hook gave Regina a smouldering smile as he dangled the dreamcatcher on his hook. She passed under his arm, knocking it with her hand. Having found the point in the dream, they had frozen the moment where the portal had been opened and spotted that it was a tree in the forest. Now Joined by Robin and Hook they had formed a search party to pin point the gaping hole and distinctive branch the swirling green light had been framed by.

"We can hang the amulet on the branch and hopefully mine and Emma's power combined can prize it open." Regina commented ignoring the pirate and sizing up all of the surrounding trees.

"I think I've got it!" Robin yelled from his path, spotting the familiar shape. Even having lived in Storybrooke for the shortest time, he knew this forest almost as well as his own back home.

"How do we know this wasn't planted in your dream as a trap?" Mary Margaret suggested, struggling behind and still desperate to think of any reasons to abort the mission.

"You think the sandman is after us? Those shadows certainly weren't the cutest things I'd ever seen." Emma chuckled as a look from her father stunted the look of self-pride she had at her joke.

"Sandmen are often just messengers." Regina commented, nonchalant, prompting Emma to pause.

"Because of course they actually are real as well. Of course." She nodded, realising why she was the only one who had found any humour in the subject and pop culture reference.

They stopped as they got to Robin and examined their portal.

"It's definitely it." Mother Superior noted, rubbing her hand through the inside. "There is residual dust as well. That should help make reopening it easier."

Seeing the reality approaching quickly, Mary Margaret grabbed onto the sleeve of Emma's jacket.

"Are we sure it's wise for you both to go through. We could be sending our two most powerful residents straight to their death. Shouldn't one of you stay here to be on the safe side anyway?" She pleaded as Regina looked back unimpressed.

"So just send me to my death instead you mean?" she replied bluntly as the group exchanged an awkward silence.

"Well, you could take Hook with you." Mary Margaret shrugged, trying to still offer alternatives as the two sized each other up. "Me and him on a mission alone I can guarantee we wouldn't both return." She explained.

"Aye. If I'm going to be stepping into an unknown world to what you seem convinced will be our final dalliance, I think I'd be choosing Emma's face to be the last I see." He suggested adding a "No offence." with a flair in his grin as Regina batted it back with a side eye.

"And as attractive as that sounds, we've been there before and I don't intend to re-live it." Emma responded. "Our best chance of protecting ourselves and Storybrooke is for Regina and me to go through alone while you guys hold the fort here. Dad and Hook, you're our best fighters without magic."

"When we're on the other side we will try to charm it so that nothing can come back through." Regina added. "That will keep you safe for a while and as Emma said, we can communicate through this." She handed Mary Margaret a paddle mirror designed with various hoops and swirls around the border.

"We've magically connected this to the pocket one. Regina's magic was never powerful enough to break realm walls but mine is." Emma reassured her mother as Regina gave her an irritated glance, ungrateful for the reminder at who was the superior sorceress.

"And...with Regina's expertise I'm sure we'll always know how to do it..." Emma quickly backtracked, as her father smirked and Regina raised an eyebrow, Mary Margaret clutching the mirror down.

"Once we're through and the portal has closed, wrap the chain around the grooves in the edge design. Focus on it and we should hear your call. It'll be a bit like a cross-realm cellphone." Their former queen added as Mary Margaret nodded, David moving by her side to pull her into a clasp.

"I wish I could go with you." Robin whispered to Regina as they embraced for their goodbye.

"You have the children to look after, don't worry about me." She reassured him, lingering in the comfort of his arms for a moment longer before doing what she had to do.

"Mother Superior, if you could press your wand against the amulet to give it a boost through you..." She suggested as the fairy obliged, the preparation a clear indication it was time to go.

"Take care, Swan." Hook whispered gently, cupping Emma's face and giving her a soft kiss.

Taking her turn, Mary Margaret embraced her daughter tightly, closing her eyes and nestling into her shoulder.

"Are you sure we can't come with you?" She attempted one last time as Emma laughed.

"No offense Mom, but ex-bandit or not I am not sure a hormonal and pregnant school teacher will add much to our agility, and Dad needs to be here for you and the town."

"Plus, this way if we have to torture anyone for information you won't have to see it." Regina added teasingly as Emma threw her a look of frustration.

"I'm kidding." Regina assured her before adding "Mainly." under her breath, knowing that at this stage nothing could be ruled out. Moving past the taunt, Mary Margaret cupped her daughter's cheek.

"Be safe. And answer that mirror!"

"Mom. I promise." Emma teased back lightly as she gripped tight. She had more confidence in this than her mom, but she couldn't deny the trickle of uncertainty and fear that always came. "You take care of Henry, whatever happens." She whispered as her mom nodded. They had already said their goodbye to him but it didn't mean he wasn't always the last thing on her mind and usually the sole cause of any trepidation. Seeing the tears grow in her mom's eyes she gave her one last assurance.

"And don't worry, this plan will work." Emma reassured her as Regina looked over hopefully. So far she was up to speed to this point, but her companion was yet to divulge the rest of what she had conjured up. As much as she trusted Emma, there was obviously something about it that she didn't want her parents to know."

"If you find anything, you let us know immediately, anything could help, no matter how irrelevant it seems." Regina insisted, looking at David as he and his wife stepped back, allowing room for Emma to settle next to her companion. Thy gave each other a nod and braced themselves. Holding out their arms and channelling the pull of their amulets, they focussed the light that appeared from within them onto the hold in the tree. Soon enough the green light began to swirl and when they were satisfied it would hold, the two of them grabbed their necklaces and projected themselves in as the swirling pool zipped up behind them.

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 _ **Next Chapter Preview:**_

 _ **"Not riddles. Oh how I hate mangy riddlers!" Regina cursed, slapping her arms down in frustration. "This is why I never used to visit my mother in that Wonderhell!" After another angry grunt she massaged a fireball into her hand, poised to assess their surroundings for anything more.**_

 _ **"What are you planning on doing with that?" Emma glared as Regina put it out with a huff. "He's the best lead we've got so far."**_

 _ **"He's a flying cat with an eye problem! Some kind of Wonderland and Oz lovechild gone qrong. Clearly this land is taunting us."**_


	4. Riddles

**Just a short one today! Thanks to those who've got in touch. I realise I don't have many readers for this one but even if there was only one of you I'd be seeing it through to the end :)**

 **Thanks again to Laura for reading through!**

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The sounds, smells and lights swamped their body, clasping them tight to a roaring wind that seemed to simultaneously propel and suppress them. Before they could process the dramatic changes of the atmosphere they both came flying out onto the dirt of a forest path, much like their own but with different styles of trees and a different feel to the soil.

Emma blew the dirt off her face and groaned with the pain of the landing. "Why is it never pillows we land on? Or at least a haystack!"

"Take it from someone who used to be with a stable boy." Regina spat out some hair from her mouth. "Haystacks are not as soft as you may think." she finished, dusting herself off, as Emma winced at the image.

"Oh don't give me that look. Imagine what I had to accept about your parents when I first heard of your existence."

"Can we change the subject before I want to dive into another portal? That'd be great." Emma complained hopping up onto her feet and not keen on any of the thoughts this trip had so far conjured. The distraction was partially welcome however as the realisation was flooding back that they had no idea what to do next. They immediately felt the call of the mirror and Regina took it out, passing it to Emma.

"Well at least we know this worked." She smiled as her parents appeared on it.

 _"You made it! Oh thank goodness."_ Mary Margaret cooed, after what had clearly been a torturous few minutes.

"We did Mom. Now we know this works, we are going to get on with the plan." She watched as Regina was sealing the way behind them. "Regina has just put a protection spell on where the portal was so that nothing can get back through."

 _"Except you?"_ Mary Margaret clarified as Emma looked to Regina's raised eyebrow. "We get the magic back we can set up a bus route." She smiled as her parents nodded. "And if not, we'll find a way."

She looked over as Regina tapped the back of her wrist. "OK, love you guys but we gotta go." They said their goodbyes and tucked the mirror away safely.

"OK then, Emma. What was this plan you keep talking about." Regina prompted, trying to get her bearings but finding none. Emma looked back at her nervously.

"Well...use the dreamcatcher to find the portal and any further information the others could work on, then we come over and see what we find." As she said it out loud she felt her own faith in the plan echoing the increasingly despondent look growing on Regina's face. She remembered it making more sense in Storybrooke before they had stumbled further into a distinct lack of information.

"Your plan was to come over here and think of a plan?" Regina paraphrased, annoyance creeping into her voice.

"What?" Emma replied defensively. "That was your plan too!"

"And _you_ made fun of it! It was a rough outline when I thought they would find some more information and until you said you had a new one..."

"I was...well..." Emma stuttered. "I was high on the magic kick and trying to convince my mom not to worry. You're the one who nearly killed us trying to persuade me to." Her voice began to whimper a little, part accusatory but partly apologetically knowing she may have got a little ahead of herself.

"So your plan literally extended to the dreamcatcher. Beyond that it was all just talk so your mommy would let you go out and play?" Regina clarified folding her arms as Emma shrugged in submission.

Regina shook her head, beginning to regret being as haphazard as they had.

"Look, I've been in this situation before - like when I got trapped in the past." Emma tried to reassure her.

"And ended up simultaneously destroying my relationship and resurrecting the witch who tried to suck the life force out of your baby brother to change history?" Regina squinted, as Emma retreated her hands into the back pockets of her jeans.

"And...we both managed to save the world a couple times since so questionable as our methods can sometimes be, we always figure it out. This will be no different. You're the smartest person I know and I knew you would get us through it." She smiled hopefully as Regina saw through hew compliments, no matter how true they were.

"Less trying to butter me up and more looking for clues. You're a professional tracker, let's test your skills in a new world." She suggested, letting Emma off the hook with a gentle squint. "But be careful, there could be traps all around. We don't even know what land we're in."

The sheriff quickly got to work, happy to move on from the subject. "Do you not have a clue where we are? You tortured most realms didn't you? There must be some signs you can recognise."

"I _ruled_ a lot of realms but there are many more than that. I'm not Google maps." She corrected the jab in Emma's wording. "And this is definitely not one of mine. I never left any looking this dire." She noted, absorbing in the lifeless nature around them in the forest. The world almost had a grey tint to it.

"Perhaps we need to find someone who does know something..." Emma commented before sizing up their surroundings and deciding that their need for guidance was greater than the likelihood of danger. She began to whistle, listening hard for movement or responses.

"What are you doing?" Regina grabbed her arm, harshly tugging her back and ripping her fingers from her mouth. "You have no idea what enemies may be waiting to ambush us!"

"If the bad guys are waiting to ambush us we're already as good as captured, or they'll at least already know we're here. In fact, even getting captured may be a good thing. We'll at least know who we're facing."

"Your plan has now moved on from thinking of a plan to getting captured? Maybe Mary Margaret was right, I should have left you at home." She chastised, but before Emma could respond, they were interrupted by a sudden whisk of dust and a loud snap, sending Emma flying backwards as Regina fired a warning fire shot towards the cloud. As the dust settled, a large cat appeared before them. It was sporting a waistcoat, monocle and hat with a pocket watch chain hanging from it. The fact it was fully clothed was the least of their worries when they spotted that it was being supported by a pair of bat-like wings. The two of them gawped as the creature giggled and cawed, breaking out into a rhyme.

 _"You whistled, I came, I know why you're here! But with the knowledge you have you'll never get near."_ He sang out with a crisp, taunting, tone before disappearing again with a pop as the two swung to try and stop him with various blasts.

"Not riddles. Oh how I hate mangy riddlers!" Regina cursed, slapping her arms down in frustration. "This is why I never used to visit my mother in that Wonderhell!" After another angry grunt she massaged a fireball into her hand, poised to assess their surroundings for anything more.

"What are you planning on doing with that?" Emma glared as Regina put it out with a huff. "He's the best lead we've got so far."

"He's a flying cat with an eye problem! Some kind of Wonderland and Oz lovechild gone wrong. Clearly this land is taunting us." Regina lamented as Emma pulled herself off the ground again and dusted her pants. "It could just be automatic, like a gatekeeper. Did you say it's like Wonderland?" She tried to divert back to useful information as Regina shook her head, scouting their surroundings for signs of where their visitor had disappeared but only seeing some remnants of a gold powder.

"It's not Wonderland. I'd be able to tell. That kind of ridiculousness is straight out of there though. Maybe a copy cat?

"Was that pun intended?" Emma giggled as Regina squinted, unamused.

"If it was Wonderland would something like that have been sent to greet us or kill us?" Emma asked, accepting quickly enough that Regina hadn't appreciated the joke. Regina thought over the question, examining the particles of glittery dust it had left behind. Before she had a chance to process, the wind returned and this time she was the one blown down. The animal sprang onto Emma's back as she spun it off with a smack and it landed plumply on the ground. Regina threw a force at it, but a glimmer on the ground catching her eye, Emma diverted the blast away and the cat began its rhyming again.

 _"I am not foe, I'm merely a guide, but you'll need to find more 'fore I lead you inside!"_ He whistled before popping away again and left with a trail of golden dust.

"Why didn't you let me trap it?" Regina snarled as she pulled herself off the floor, dusting her pants once again."

"Because he left us a path..." Emma pointed, noting there was more pattern to the dust than simply residue. "You may be the pro when it comes to lands, but I know a trail when I see one." She immediately set about following it as Regina scurried behind. "Emma, he could be leading us right into a trap." Regina protested as Emma strode into a circle of scattered stones that the dust seemed to weave its way through.

The trees were becoming more sparse but several of the rocks were appearing. The powdery trail spiralled through a clearing which Emma was hastily heading towards.

"Can we not just pause for a moment and think about what we know." Regina suggested, almost unable to keep up with Emma's striding pace.

"Regina you brought me here because you trust my judgement." Emma fired back without breaking focus as she approached the open space, alongside a towering tree. "If we need to figure out a plan we need information, and unless you have any better ideas you're just going to have to use your faith in me to lead us to - _aah!"_ Emma was violently cut off as the ground below her suddenly raised, scattering both the gold dust and the dirt around them into a cloud with the saviour thrown up into the air. She was quickly supported by a cage that had sprung from below to meet a roof that had swung round from the monstrous bough above it. Regina flapped the dust from around her face, coughing, before looking up at her confused partner.

 _"Nobody move!"_ A voice growled as the scattered rocks spun out in a circle around them, materialising as trolls and brandishing spears. "No magic except ours can escape or penetrate the cage so if you want your friend back you'll not try any funny business." Their leader barked as Regina locked eyes with a dumbstruck Emma dangling above her. Each troll had a selection of blue and clear crystals strung around their neck that danced as they spoke.

"Where was it you were leading us?" She asked politely with a forced smile as Emma sighed and collapsed hopelessly against the bars.

"Who are you and why are you on our patch?" The head troll soldier commanded as Regina rolled her eyes.

"They're here to steal the cup!" One yelled as another rolled over to inspect Regina.

She didn't have patience for magical creatures at the best of times, let alone when they were threatening to indefinitely imprison her friend and firing wild accusations.

"We're no threat to you troll, and we're not here to steal anything. Unless you're the thieves that stole our magic. That we will be stealing back and you're going to be gargoyles very soon." Regina mustering an authority in her voice and flexing her hands.

The head troll immediately grabbed one of his crystals and his necklace glowed, the shine combining with a cloud that emerged to form stream of light wrapped around Regina's hands. It materialised as a pair of handcuffs.

"We'll see how bold you are now, witch!" He barked as Regina tugged, Emma seeing the fury in her eyes and desperate to change the course of the interrogation.

"You know even if you _are_ the thieves we're not necessarily a threat either. We just want to know what happened." Emma tried to calm things down.

If you just let me down we can talk about this. Help each other." She suggested calmly as the trolls looked amongst themselves for assessment of the proposal.

"You can keep my partner in handcuffs if you want, until we've proven you can trust us." She added, seeing them whispering with eyes locked on Regina. "But if you let me down it will be easier to talk from the ground." Ignoring whatever opinions Regina might have on this plan, Emma focussed her efforts on progression one step at a time. Handcuffs were easier than a magical cage and at least they would be together.

"Very well." The troll squinted before gripping a rock on his necklace again and the same whirl of glowing smoke glittered around Emma's cage, dropping itself down and trapping both of them within its walls. Emma looked around at the new predicament. At least she wasn't dangling in the air. She looked to Regina whose face showed she wasn't sharing the optimism.

 **That's all for now - thanks for reading! Reviews always welcome :)**

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 _ **Next Chapter Preview:**_

 _ **"I heard of that trip." The friend of Kristoff replied. "They were helped by someone they called the saviour after being**_ _ **nearly killed by an ancient queen."**_

 _ **"Yes! That's me!" she beamed. "I'm that saviour. And this is Regina, see. They know us."**_

 _ **"Regina from Misthaven?" One of the other soldiers yelled, thinking it over before his eyes bulged and spear flew up. "But she is the evil queen!"**_

 _ **"The evil queen! The evil queen!" The trolls began to babble, copying the stance of the first.**_


	5. Reasoning

**Hi all! Thanks for the follows and reviews. They make my week that little bit brighter. Here is the next chapter. Thanks to Laura again.**

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The two women, now captive in the same cage, exchanged a look. Regina tugged on the bonds around her wrists to try and gesture pulling them apart.

"It's a good thing you told them to keep my handcuffs on. I may have gotten away." She mumbled sarcastically as Emma jerked her head defensively. She was too busy trying to think of a plan to put up with the cynicism.

"One step at a time." She whispered back as the trolls came closer to them. She tried to lock a sympathetic gaze with the leader.

"You're not ready to trust us yet - but you can." She pleaded, trying to maintain as trustworth tone as she could. "We just want information. We are probably looking for the same things you are. What cup were you talking about?" She quickly stepped back as the words seemed to trigger a panicked babble.

"They want the cup! They want the cup!" They sang out, spears jangling before the head troll silenced them with a hand raise.

"How can you prove we can trust you?" The head troll growled again as Emma gripped her hands around the bars of the cage.

"We can't." She shrugged as a flash of worry flew over Regina's eyes, but she bit back any comments knowing that Emma generally had a better instinct in situations like this than she did. Proving this assessment was correct, Emma began to work her magic, checking over everything she could see about their captors.

"I do think we may have a mutual friend though. Am I right in thinking you're from Arendelle?" She guessed, deducing that she had only ever heard one account of creatures like these before.

The trolls all began muttering again as the leader silenced them.

"We are soldiers banded together from tribes of rock trolls all over that land. We are here as the first regiment for a special mission."

"And do any of you know Kristoff?" Emma tried, loosely recalling those past conversations during her time with Anna and Elsa. There was a dull murmur again before one of the ones at the back spoke up.

"I know Kristoff..." He squeaked as the leader turned. "He grew up in my family."

"Good!" Emma beamed, hoping this was a start. "And even those who don't know him must know him through the princess. They are the rulers of Arendelle." There was a further whispered discussion among the soldiers as some began to look more attentive.

"We are here on behalf of the Honourable Supreme Elder Court of the Rock Trolls of Arendelle. Not the Queen."

"Yes, but the Queen still rules your land, right? And we're friends." Emma's enthusaism grew, relieved to have found a common ground. "Just check with them. I swear, they'll vouch for us. We helped them when they came to the Enchanted Forest."

"Misthaven" Regina corrected, seeing the blank looks on the trolls faces and knowing more about the history of the two lands.

"I heard of that trip." The friend of Kristoff replied. "They were helped by someone they called the saviour after being nearly killed by an ancient queen."

"Yes! That's me!" she beamed. "I'm that saviour. And this is Regina, see. They know us."

"Regina from Misthaven?" One of the other soldiers yelled, thinking it over before his eyes bulged and spear flew up. "But she _is_ the evil queen!"

"The evil queen! The evil queen!" The trolls began to rabble, copying their stance.

"Hey! I never did anything to hurt Arendelle!" She protested as the rest of the spears reared up again in the frenzy.

"We've been trained to be wary of all evils!" The leader yelled, storming closer to the cage as the rattled rabble turned back onto high alert. "Kill them! We must protect the cup!" one cried. "We've heard the stories!" Added another.

"Of course you have." Emma groaned before raising her arms up again hoping to calm them. "Look this is a different evil queen. That was the evil ice queen - although...once the memories were restored I guess she turned out not so evil..." she tried to relay desperately, even confusing herself as the trail of events came out. She shook her head knowing she had veered from the point. "Either way, Kirstoff meant a different evil queen, not this evil queen."

"Keep on emphasising that word why don't you..." Regina complained as a spear was getting closer to her neck.

"Right, this is my fault." Emma bit back through a harsh whisper. "I'm not the one so infamous that even people literally living under a _rock_ know I terrorised the masses."

As the shouts and heckling grew from the army and the spears began to press against their chests Regina began to tug viciously at the binds around her wrists. Emma frantically looked around the cage trying to understand the way it was bound together.

"Oh this is ridiculous." Regina spat. I don't care if it bounces off the walls. These spears are getting materialised."

"No, wait!" Emma grabbed her hands and snapped out with such a boom that even the trolls stopped their approach. She knew that Regina's temper was a ticking bomb for any hope of reasoning.

"Listen you may not trust us, and you don't need to...but you have a problem right? You are only here to guard the cup but you can't do anything with it yet." Emma desperately reasoned, hoping they would buy that it was prior knowledge and hoping it would at least buy her some time. It seemed to work as the trolls paused, pulling back slightly.

"We are here to protect the cup until we hear otherwise." The leader barked, clearly along the party line.

"Which means you are probably waiting for someone powerful enough who can do something with cup."

"We do not know what the cup is for. We were sent here to find it and guard it until the Honourable Supreme Elder Court of the Rock Trolls of Arendelle gives us the order to do otherwise." He parroted, hitting Emma with a sudden flash of inspiration.

"That's us. That's why we're here. Elsa sent us. She sent us on behalf of the court...elder committee thing." She lied as Regina threw her a confused look.

"Emma..." She began to murmur under her breath before Emma silenced her with a gentle kick of her foot.

"You never said Elsa sent you. You said you were looking for your magic...that you didn't want the cup. " The leader questioned, moving closer to the cage as Emma tried to think fast. "We did say that..." she paused, realising the flaw in her quick thinking.

"But we didn't realise who you were." Regina stepped in, picking up on the plan and hoping the trolls were gullible enough to buy it. "When we told our friends in Arendelle, they suggested we come here and look for it. They said they had already sent an army that we could work with...I just...I didn't realise it was you at the time. That's why we didn't say. We didn't want to breach the security."

The leader scrutinised them for a brief period and then stepped close to the cage, looking deep into Emma's eyes. "Trolls!" He suddenly snapped, causing Emma to jump at the sudden burst.

"Rock conference." He added before zipping into his ball followed by the rest as they rolled to the opposite corner of the plain and leaving Regina and Emma to finally relax.

"That sounds like the boring version of my wilder days." Emma mumbled, gripping her hands around the bars to try and watch closer.

"How can you be making jokes?" Regina chided her. "What happens when they check with Arendelle and find out we just fed them a bunch of lies? They're going to be even more suspicious. They may be morons but they do have spears." She mocked.

"Well considering they don't have any further orders yet I'm guessing they don't exactly have a direct line." Emma hoped, turning back to Regina. "And as you so tactfully pointed out, they don't seem like the smartest. If we can just get them to trust us enough to let us out - "

"And then what? All they seem to care about is this cup they're convinced we're going to steal."

"Well..."Emma folded her arms, leaning back against the wall of the cage. "Maybe that is a clue in itself."

"We're looking for _our_ magic, Emma, not a tea party." Regina panted back before a sudden wash of horror. "Oh God. Please don't say this has that element of Wonderland too..." She winced just before her bag suddenly began to flutter up and down with a hollow hum.

"Quick, get it before they see." She urged the bag towards Emma who was still the only one with her hands free to answer the signalling mirror.

"At least magic works in here, even if it can't escape it." She commented, checking that the trolls were still safely distracted. Turning her back to the trolls she discretely removed the mirror and peered down.

"Please tell me you have information." She said without even greeting her mother and Belle who appeared on the shiny metal. "We really don't have long."

 _"Emma?"_ Mary Margaret commented concerned. _"Where are you? Are you in a cage?"_ Her voice suddenly had a shriek of fear as Emma quietened her with a "Shh!"

"We're fine Mom, everything's under control." She lied as Regina scoffed.

"Right. We're absolutely fine. We're just being held captive by the pathway."

Emma threw her another glare as Mary Margaret's eyes welled with concern.

"We can fill you in later. Please tell me you have experience of rock trolls, especially soldiers. If not, then at least some other good news."

 _"I know a bit about rock trolls."_ Belle replied, briskly. _"Legend implies that the concentrated magic in their necklace crystals is from the northern lights, but only the elders have great conduct of their power. The others can use it but probably don't understand it as well. I don't know much about soldiers but I remember Anna commenting that they are not nearly as friendly."_

"Skip down. We figured that much." Emma urged her, keeping half an eye on the troll conference still taking place.

"Is there anything about our magic?" Regina asked impatiently, though unable to see the mirror as Emma didn't want to make it obvious.

 _"We don't have much but I have a little more."_ Belle explained. _"I found a couple of related legends. The links between them are tenuous, mainly based on timelines or similarities but nothing explicit. One was also from Arendelle about a chalice that was meant to be able to channel great power and seems to tie in with the king we found before. There's also one about a puppeteer with a broken rod that in its full form -"_

"Did you say a chalice?" Emma cut her off bluntly, not having heard anything after that word. Regina closed her eyes, knowing what was coming.

 _"Yes. That's all we know."_ Belle picked up. _"It's only mentioned in a line or two. No pictures or-"_ They were disrupted by a loud sound from the trolls showing that something was about to happen. Seeing they didn't have long, Emma threw in the only other thing they knew. "And look up riddlers. Flying cat thingies, cryptic messages, Victorian England fashion sense." Spotting the blank faces Regina intervened, frustrated. "We don't have time to explain, just look for anything on flying felines with a secrecy complex and see if you can find what land we are in."

"We have to go -" Emma cut them off closing the mirror and quickly slipping it into her sleeve

"You know what this means?" Emma sighed looking gravely to her partner.

"We _are_ here for a tea party aren't we." Regina replied, resigned. It was good to have a further clue but the challenge was not one they were looking forward to, especially considering how protective the trolls seemed to be.

"You think the cup could be what sucked our power? It looked more like a funnel or deformed tube..." Emma scrunched up her face but before they could discuss it further there was an avalanche of rolling rocks and their captors appeared almost as rapidly as they had dissipated.

"The troll conference has adjourned." The leader commanded with the authority of a judge. "We have concluded that there is a chance you are possibly, almost telling the truth."

"So they possibly, almost trust us. Great." Regina whispered spitefully to Emma as the blonde instantly shushed her, hanging on every word of the troll.

"Should the Honourable Supreme Elder Court of the Rock Trolls of Arendelle agree and your story is corroborated by the advice from the court of the Queen then we will consider letting you help us."

"OK, so when do we hear from them?" Regina asked agitated.

"When our portal reopens."

"Then open it." the queen barked back, her patience wearing thinner.

"We do not control the portal." The leader replied, outraged at the thought.

"Well when did it last open?" Emma asked, slightly concerned about where this may be heading.

"When we arrived. About 20 moons ago."

Emma closed her eyes. They had as much ease at returning as they did.

"Are you telling us that you have just been camped here guarding a stupid cup for three weeks and the first chance you have at being able to use the damn thing you are not even attempting to use?" Regina spat, furiously.

"We have orders to protect the cup until further help has arrived."

"We're help that has arrived!" Regina fumed, fully losing her temper as the lead troll once again squared up to the cage. "We have a list of people to trust and you are not on it. We are not permitted to allow a security breach unless we have an order from the Honourable Supreme Elder Court -"

"They're trapped on the other end of a portal which they quite clearly have been unable to reopen!" Regina fired back, staggered by the incompetence as the spears once again flew up.

"Enough!" Emma yelled, slicing her hand down and causing the mirror to come hurtling out from where she had hid it in her sleeve. She was immediately met with the prod of a spear tip on the sleeve.

"What is that? What weapon do you have?" The leader barked as Emma's eyes flew between the mirror and Regina's nervous stare. As she tried to think of a way of preventing them taking the mirror, a glimmer of golden dust residue left at the corner of Regina's amulet doused her with another wash of inspiration. Without fully thinking it through, the words came out before she even knew what she was saying.

"It's a method for us to communicate with Arendelle." She blurted out as Regina's eyebrows dived down framing a confused expression and darting a stern look at her companion's urging eyes. "That way we can ask the court directly without the portal." Emma added, looking to the trolls.

 _"Emma!"_ Regina whispered, taking advantage of more hubbub from the soldiers to get a word in. "Even if your mirror power works across realms, this one is only connected with Storybrooke an Arendelle has no magic either. Even with all your power you could at best channel it to _see_ Arendelle, not a two way pathway...worst case it fails and we lost even more of their trust, best case it works and they _know_ we're lying. This is a terrible plan."

"Do you trust me or not?" Emma asked through hushed tones as Regina paused before giving her a soft nod as the leader interrupted. "If what you say is true then hand it over."

"You need me to work it." Emma continued with her plan as the trolls looked on suspiciously. "You'll need to let me out of the cage to do so for it to work." She improvised but quickly saw they weren't convinced. "You have my partner in this cage. If I try any magic other than to work the mirror you could easily kill her or exile her to Arendelle or something." Not daring to look at Regina's response, Emma focussed on the body language of the trolls as they deliberated quietly again. "And if it's all an act we are in the same position as we are now. We just lose your trust." Regina's eyes flared. Her explanation of all the things wrong with this plan weren't supposed to serve as inspiration.

"If this is an act then it won't be a hearing you return for." The leader squinted

"It will be a trial."

Regina cleared her throat anxiously, hoping it would act as a clarification to be sure her sherrif had thought this through. Emma bit her bottom lip and though through her plan one more time.

"In that case I better not fail." She added, trying to sound confident as Regina's eyes exploded suddenly doubting whether she had faith in this after all.

* * *

 _ **Next Chapter Preview:**_

 _ **As the blue light filtered through the threading she could feel it tingle and buzz, passing through the mirror and against the metal pressing against her chest. The jewellery started vibrating faster and faster but no picture appeared in the mirror.**_

 _ **"It's not working" the troll exclaimed cynically as Emma winked open an eye and looked down. The chain was dancing furiously now as would the mirror be was it connecting.**_

 _ **"A little more." She said, as the leader beckoned two more trolls to join in, 5 of them now projecting a stream of light to where Emma was poised.**_


	6. Pursuit

**Hi all, thanks for the messages! Here is the next chapter. Thanks to Laura again :)**

* * *

The leader approached the cage, tightening his grip around his spear as he raised his hand to his neck. While others poised ready to surround Regina, he gripped at his crystal and the swirls flew up and circle the bindings of the cage and round Emma's wrists. They rattled momentarily before the side swung down and Emma emerged, the same black threaded cuffs as Regina's wrapped around her hands. As she left, the cage wall reattached behind her.

"I hope you know what you're doing, Swan." Regina prayed under her breath as Emma gave her a reassuring look and the trolls led Emma on, leaving Regina behind. They took her over the clearing and she did her best to take in the surroundings. As she walked she spotted that the gold sprinkling they had originally been following was still present and appeared to circle around a rather large rock with two smaller rocks beside it. She had a feeling knew what it could contain. Not wanting to waste the opportunity she addressed the troll to her immediate left. The one that Kristoff had known.

"So you've been here for a few weeks." She whispered as he looked up without replying before nodding briskly. She let them go a few more steps as she saw another large rock they appeared to be heading towards.

"When did the magic disappear from your land?" She asked softly as the soldier eyed her over. "Kristoff didn't give us the details." She added. Hoping that it would both be in line with her story and remind the troll they were friends. It appeared to work.

"Not many use magic." He replied. "The elders deliberated for many days in council with the queen who decided that an army should trace and protect the cup. It had been hidden here many years before and we knew that they would want it. We had been charged with this task many years before. It was time." Emma thought over what he had said, not feeling fully comfortable with it. "A second party was to come to help us return to Arendelle and decide how to restore the magic."

" _Who_ would want it?" She asked, still bothered by his earlier wording. "Does that mean the cup has the magic?" She fished, trying to piece together what they had. Before the troll could answer the leader halted the party with a "Silence!"

As all the soldiers froze, Emma looked at the rock face before them. With another pull on his chain, the blue smoke this time danced around the surface and the rocks began to roll straight into it, each disappearing as they did. Before Emma had time to take this in, one of them grabbed her and launched her forward as they too materialised inside. She was suddenly inside a completely sealed cave, lit only by the glowing beads of the trolls.

"What the hell?" Emma exclaimed, unable to hide her fascination with what just happened. "We just walked into a solid rock..."

"Arendelle magic is drawn from the elements. From nature." The leader commented bluntly. "Our magic allows us to be absorbed into the rocks. We are _rock_ trolls." Emma was about to question it before various glints caught her eye, spotting a stockpile of spears and blades reflecting the blue light.

"And you use them as store-rooms..." She mumbled in amazement. "You're packing some serious punch." She was now even more confident as to why that larger rock she passed may be of interest.

"This is why we have brought you here. Try anything and we will obliterate you." He threatened. "How do you make the trinket work?" The leader asked, getting back to business, as she folded the mirror over in her hands.

"I'll need your power as well as mine. A lot of it, if it's to work." She said. "And I can't guarantee..."

"You already guaranteed." The troll cut her off as she began to regret her choice of wording from before.

"Alright then." She breathed deeply, hoping that either a miracle or blind faith in her instinct wouldn't let her down.

"But first, how do these beads of yours have magic?" She asked, partly stalling and partly trying to get as much Intel as she could. The soldiers looked among themselves hesitantly. "If you want this to work I need to know what kind of magic I'm dealing with."

"Our beads contain the power of the skies. It is held tight within the crystals." He explained. "When magic was stolen from Arendelle we had to journey here so our necklaces would reawaken and could be used to protect the cup."

"So the cup is in here?" She asked hopefully as the spears shuffled again. "The cup is safe." The troll replied with a suspicious glare. Looking for any hints from the trolls, her strongest theory for the location still stood, and that wasn't this cave.

"How did you know the cup was here? Where is _here?_ " She asked as the troll lost his patience.

"You should know that if you can from the queen. Can you communicate with Arendelle or not?" He barked as Emma relented, seeing the other trolls twitch their spears again.

"Maybe if you channel your magic through the binding on my wrists it will help mix your magic with mine." She explained. "Channel as much into it as you can and I will try and activate the mirror."

The leader nodded as he signalled to two of his soldiers."And make sure it is not blocking my magic." She added for safeguarding as the troll reluctantly agreed.

The three trolls each raised their wrist as Emma raised hers, holding the edge of the mirror against the binding and resting the back of it against the amulet around her neck. She closed her eyes and began to concentrate as hard as she could. As the blue light filtered through the threading she could feel it tingle and buzz, passing through the mirror and against the metal pressing against her chest. The jewellery started vibrating faster and faster but no picture appeared in the mirror.

"It's not working" the troll exclaimed, cynically as Emma winked open an eye and looked down. The chain was dancing furiously now as would the mirror be was it connecting.

"A little more." She said, as the leader beckoned two more trolls to join in, 5 of them now projecting a stream of light to where Emma was poised. As the vibrations reached maximum she peeked out of her closed eyes again and saw that the amulet colour had flicked from the sombre glow of Regina's purple to a soft blue like the colour of the light that danced along the fibres. Focussing harder on the mirror a glazed light flickered across it but there was a crack and a wheeze. With a final bang the glass popped, sending a web of splits along its face and causing the trolls to jump back, spears bared again.

"You lied! You have no window to Arendelle! It's a powerless trinket!" The leader barked as two trolls forced Emma to her feet.

"I didn't lie..." She exclaimed. "It just didn't work. Honestly, we can help you. I swear."

"Take her back to the cage!" The leader commanded. "She just wanted to stall us to find the cup and steal it! She tricked us!" He continued to bark as two of the soldiers grabbed her arms and proceeded to drag her back.

"I didn't lie it just didn't - " They cut her off with more exclamations of _"She just wanted to find the cup. Protect the cup!"_

Realising it was futile, Emma stopped trying to fight them. She discretely tried to slip the mirror to her sleeve again.

"You lied! You lied! You are not here to help us!" The trolls continued to babble in various variations as they dragged her back to the clearing. She once again caught the look of the rock with the golden trail as they dragged her over. She could see Regina come back into view with a nervous stare.

"You will both be sent to Arendelle. You will face the court for trying to deceive us."

"I underestimated my power - I'm sorry." Emma pleaded to deaf ears.

"A true friend of Arendelle would have not lied." The leader spat with final vitriol as he blew angrily on the cord and Emma was thrown back in. The wall reattached trapping them once again inside.

"In light of your failure you shall be kept prisoners here until you can be sent to Arendelle for trial where your deception will be put before the court." The leader snapped as Emma tried to regain balance from being tossed in.

"Over-reaction, much?" She mumbled to herself before spotting Regina's damning side glare.

"I take it it went straight to voicemail?" She commented coldly as Emma locked onto her eyes, unamused.

"It is nightfall and we shall retire. Trolls!" The leader commanded before tapping his spear three times as the entire army zipped away into their stumps and rolled away to the edge of the clearing.

"Emma." Regina stated coldly as soon as it was quiet. "I don't know what you were trying to achieve with that little brainwave, but if I end up spending summer ice skating around an Arendelle prison cell I am not going to be very pleasant company." She lectured, dropping down into a seated position on the floor.

"For someone who threw themselves off a bridge to bring me here, I cant say my Uber rating is all that high for your company so far." Emma bit back. "Anyways, you don't need to worry about being in Arendelle -"

"- Because their portal has clearly dried up and it's more likely we'll be trapped here by the moss headed bureaucrats instead?" Regina retorted as Emma struggled to try and release the chain from her neck.

"No. Because getting that mirror to work was never my plan in the first place." She replied, catching Regina's attention away from her sulking.

"Oh Emma..." Regina smiled seeing the colour of the rock Emma had dangled in front of her.

"They said only their magic could penetrate this cage." She explained as she flexed her wrists and examined the cage again. "I may not have your experience, Regina, but power locking crystals and high concentrations of magic - I'm a quicker study than you think."

"How did you know that would work?" The queen asked, leaping back up into a standing position.

"I didn't." Emma replied, trying to manoeuvre the crystal into a prime place.

"But those crystals weren't even designed to _absorb_ magic. I used a potion..." Regina continued to scrutinise, her curiosity overtaking her relief.

"Well then it's time we tested if it did work or not." Emma raised her eyebrows as Regina nodded and lifted her hands. Following what the rock trolls had done so many times, she focussed on the aim and soon enough the blue wisp of smoke filtered around the bonds and freeing them. Handing it to Regina, she returned the favour and the both flexed their sore wrists from the bondage.

"I have to say, that was very nicely done." Regina admitted, letting her intrigue lie for a little while. "Now we have the upper hand and element of surprise I intend to knock them all out and get that leader's heart so we can find out what really is going on. They may be stones but they must still have them to be alive..." She plotted.

"Regina!" Emma scolded. "They're subjects of our friend."

"Oh please!" Regina scoffed back. "First you get zipped up in a tree cage and now you're not letting me rip hearts out to help us? I thought I came on this trip with you, not your mother! We need answers. You did well, Emma, but we can't rely entirely on slapdash luck and instinct."

"Slapdash luck and instinct just saved your ass!" Emma protested.

"And that was very impressive but let me do something to help. Cross the line you wont."

"No. Hearts." Emma insisted. "My walk on the dark side made me realise even more what a slippery slope that is. I'm not doing it. Now let's get out of here."

Emma got the amulet into position, holding it at the cage edge and giving it another squeeze. As with the cuffs, the magic encased the edge and the door sprung away. Thinking quickly, Regina materialised a couple of decoy shapes, sat against the bottom of the cage and Emma restored the wall before they carefully edged behind the tree.

"Which way out of here then, tracker?" Regina whispered as they gently tried to tiptoe to the edge.

"We can't get out of here just yet..." Emma informed her looking back to the rock."

"Excuse me?" Regina replied in shock, unsure of why they would delay their escape. "You don't want us to hurt the trolls but you want to hang around?"

Just then they were disrupted by a screeching noise as Emma's wrist began to furiously buzz.

"What the hell is that?" She shrieked as she realised the whirr was coming from the mirror. "Why is it doing that?"

"Did you crack the glass?! The magic escapes like steam if there is a breach when it calls." Regina chastised as they looked over to the rocks a few yards away who were beginning to stir.

"I..." Emma stuttered. "It could have smashed a little..." She explained guiltily as Regina grabbed her wrist and began to run just as the rocks began to roll.

"Oh why now, mom." Emma muttered as they ran faster. The predictable cries from the trolls hollered behind in crashing disharmony with the mirror's squeal.

"Enough of this!" Regina yelled as she turned, sending a blast that ricocheted through the army, sending them flying backwards and silencing the mirror. "I've stunted their magic but that won't hold them for long!" She gasped as they moved. "I'm getting us out of here..." She called, grabbing Emma's arm as the trolls began to pursue on foot, spears beginning to toss towards them.

"Wait! We have to get the cup!" Emma yelled as Regina shrieked an _"Are you kidding me?"_ and Emma changed direction towards the rock she had seen before.

"Are you crazy? How do you know where it is?"

"Slapdash luck and instinct...hopefully..." She breathed out pulling Regina's arm and saving her from another clattering spear, jerking her towards the rock as the two smaller rocks by it expanded out.

"Sorry guys." Emma waved her hand tossing them away as they approached and sent them flying down the hill. This time a shot of magic burst at them from behind.

"They have their powers back, Swan!" Regina blasted another attempt to stifle their pursuers but failed. "This better work..."

"Well, if it doesn't we're about to be splattered across a rock face." She exclaimed, grabbing the amulet on her neck. Regina barely had time to gasp a final _"What?"_ before the two of them dived into the blue shimmer that had appeared around the stone.

They hit the deck inside as a spear edged through behind them and wedged in, snapping off on the outside as they deduced they had begun to roll. This one was a lot smaller than the previous but clearly still bigger than it appeared from the outside. The two sorceresses tossed and rolled within, bounding down the hill. It was full of trinkets and papers and Emma tried to hold sight onto anything long enough to identify if what she needed was here.

"Did you just jump start a _rock_?" Regina exclaimed trying to hold on somehow as Emma ignored her. She continued her search as best she could, all the time spinning and trying to avoid the spear head wedged in the wall. There were the sounds of magical bullets pinging off the edge of it, but so far none had penetrated. A faint dim of angry shouts was on their tail, the troll army rolling behind. Each was alternating into their trolls form to send a single blast and rolling back up without losing pace in their pursuit.

"Emma we need to get out of this thing before it goes off a cliff!" Regina yelled as the two were bouncing off the walls, the speed of their journey only increasing.

Hard as it was to keep focus with anything long enough to see detail, Emma felt a sharp ding on her arm and desperately grabbed the source of it. As it tried to jump from her wrist, her head flying over her legs, she gripped the handle tight and tried to use her other hand to make a copy, hoping a decoy may prevent the trolls chasing them further when they made their escape. As she threw the fake down she grabbed Regina's leg and tried to hold on..

"We're jumping out again!" She yelled. "You get ready to materialise us somewhere else."

"Where?" Regina spat, trying to hold onto her companion.

"Anywhere!" Emma ordered through a yell. "One..." she grabbed the amulet as best she could without dropping the cup in the constant turning. "Two.." She gripped Regina tighter and focussed hard. _"Three!"_

The rock portal opened as they were tossed from the stone as an avalanche of the smaller rocks rolled down, morphing into the creatures. Just as another burst of magic flew at them, Regina's smoke whisked them up into the air.

* * *

 _ **Next Chapter Preview:**_

 _ **"Well if he knows so much why doesn't he just give us a freakin' map?" Regina blasted, making no attempt to hide her frustration, before squinting beyond Emma's shoulder as something caught her eye.**_

 _ **Without saying another word she began to gravitate behind towards a pile of papers that had been scattered by the riddler's appearance. She bent over and picked a particular one up as Emma walked over to join her.**_

 _ **"What is it? What have you seen?" She asked with a prickle of optimism. Regina turned back to her and held out one of the papers, flapping it out briskly to cause a puff of golden sparkles that came spilling off it. "A freakin' map."**_


	7. Paths

**Hi all, thanks for the reviews. I'm glad people are enjoying. Thanks to the silent readers too and for the messages. Here is chapter 7!**

 **Thanks again to Laura for all her beat-ing work.**

* * *

The two women landed clattering to the ground with a thud onto soft sand.

"At least sand is better than tree roots." Emma groaned, deciding this jumping around had happened too many times for her liking.

"I can't believe we just took a joyride in the landscape." Regina croaked. "I see that despite banning me from using my old methods you don't have the same reservations reverting back to grand theft auto."

"Am I ever going to be able to save your life without you complaining about it?" Emma replied, pulling herself up to sit, leaning back on her palms. Regina hopped onto her feet, stretching out her legs with a wince.

"It's my way of showing gratitude." she replied emotionlessly before offering Emma a hand. "Though I'm still unsure how any of this worked..."

"We need to just keep looking forward. Whatever got us here so far we should just roll with it. Even if it means literally." She added with a smirk, taking pride in her joke.

"Seriously?" Regina looked back unimpressed as Emma nudged her arm playfully. The joking aside, something about the amulets still didn't feel right. It may have saved their life, but they hadn't been fashioned as a magic catch-all. Her young apprentice's magical ability was proving a continual source of intrigue.

"You may not like my humour but you should at least like this." Emma broke Regina's thought train and handed her the cup she had rescued from their adventure.

"So this is the famous cup." Regina commented, returning to the task at hand inspecting it in her hands. As she turned it over she began to grimace. It was formed from a thick metal, lighter than it appeared, with a degraded golden colour. There were two side handles framing it, delicately crafted into ' _S'_ like curves. The design was of simple decoration but had various grooves that may have at one point displayed a message or name in some forgotten language. As delicate as it seemed to be, it was its base that had caused the puzzled reaction. It was punctured by a constellation of carefully positioned holes.

"This isn't a cup - it's a holey grail alright but the wrong kind!" Regina sneered, plonking it hard into Emma's hands. "This can't be right..."

"It has to be the cup." Emma suggested. As confused as she was she was reluctant to give up too easily. "They're rock trolls...maybe they just didn't know what a cup looks like and they were calling it the wrong thing."

"They may have been robotic morons with a passion for literal instruction but they are still magical creatures." Regina replied, becoming more anxious. "I'm sure they know what basic objects look like - and Belle said it was a chalice. Are you sure there wasn't another cup?"

"There wasn't exactly a neon sign flashing ' _this is your cup'_ but it's not like there was a buffet of ancient artefacts in the rock were flying down the hill in." Emma defended herself. Before Regina could get out more than a glare they were interrupted by a whirlwind of sand that whipped up around them. They both shielded their eyes, anticipating the imminent arrival.

 _"You beat the trolls and got their prize now you can make them all oblige, your powers combined can let you in and use your name to sink or swim."_

"If you can use old methods, Swan, so can I." Regina thundered as soon as the riddle finished before blasting a clear bubble of light at the riddler, trying to catch it. As he ducked and dived she fired three more before launching for him as he finally popped away in an explosion of gold. Regina landed face first in the sand. She managed to grab at his pocket and snatch the contents but not detain him.

"That slimy - _argh!_ If he is trying to guide us why not just _guide_ us." She ranted, furious at her failure to catch him. Emma ignored the refrain, whipping out her Sheriff's pad as Regina made it back on her feet and peered over the blonde's shoulder. "What are you writ- " she began before noting the design on the paper she was scribbling on and interrupting herself. "The former Sheriff Dark One of Storybrooke has a personalised purple notepad?" She asked with a hint of ridicule, spotting the printed name in italic at the top of the page. It was accompanied by a small picture of a swan. "Your mom gave you that didn't she." She guessed instantly as Emma blushed a little.

"So it's a little cutesy...it makes her happy to know I use it." She admitted as Regina's eyebrows moved up. "It's certainly very…" she paused, catching a warning glace from her companion. "Snow White." She tread carefully, not wanting to say anything too derogatory about her former enemy. Emma flipped the book closed and tucked it away in her pocket.

"As the person responsible for her not being able to get things like this when it was more age appropriate, you don't get to comment." She responded as Regina lifted her hands up in surrender. "And in answer to your other question, I think that riddle actually had clues in it so I'm keeping note." They moved back to topic.

"What clues? He just babbles." Regina argued, still much more wary of the feline than Emma. "Everything so far has been from you, not from him."

"That's not true. I've been following his trail - as much as you keep trying to ignore it." She reasoned as Regina briskly turned her head in denial. Refusing to back down, Emma continued. "He says we have their prize which means this must be the cup and we must be on the right track."

"Well if he knows so much why doesn't he just give us a freakin' map?" Regina blasted, making no attempt to hide her frustration, before squinting beyond Emma's shoulder as something caught her eye.

Without saying another word she began to gravitate behind towards a pile of papers that had been scattered by the riddler's appearance. She bent over and picked a particular one up as Emma walked over to join her.

"What is it? What have you seen?" She asked with a prickle of optimism. Regina turned back to her and held out one of the papers, flapping it out briskly to cause a puff of golden sparkles that came spilling off it. "A freakin' map."

Eyes bulging, Emma quickly joined her as the two huddled over it, trying to make as much sense of it as they could. "I think it's written in some form of rhunic. I recognise it from the books that Elsa had."

"So either your flappy friend is also from Arendelle or we brought these with us when we dived out the rock - "

"And he's pointing us to it. See, not so crazy am I?" She boasted, seeing that Regina was finally picking up on the same patterns.

"You may not be crazy but it doesn't mean he's our friend." The more experienced witch added with a hint of wariness. "This is all too convenient."

"Or, it's just automatic. Maybe we're in a riddle land, like some kind of instant narration. The author used to write your stories, maybe it's like that - " Emma guessed as Regina scoffed again.

"Because that turned out so well."

"Regina." Emma pleaded. "I know you hate the hope angle, but please just have a little faith. We came here to find answers and we need to work with what we've got, perfect or not."

Regina looked Emma's desperate eyes up and down before handing her the map. "Just because I'm critical doesn't mean I'm not on board." She explained, relaxing a little. "I just don't want you to become too comfortable and get careless." She added earnestly with a genuine concern before slipping a hand behind the stone of Emma's amulet. "You can probably still channel some of the trolls' magic to translate the map." She suggested.

"I can do that?" Emma clarified as Regina placed the stone into Emma's hand instead and reached into her bag.

"I'm starting to believe you can do almost anything." She added with a hint of annoyance, even though it was clear it was more of a compliment.

"But the blue is fading back to purple so I don't know how much of that magic you have left. We should probably get Belle on the case as well" She pulled the mirror out. "And as badly timed as their call was before, they obviously wanted to talk to us. No doubt your mother is climbing the walls with worry that we didn't reply."

Regina sat down to join her as Emma tipped her head gently with a smile of fondness, thinking of her mother. She felt bad at the worry she would be going through but she still felt comfort finally accepting that there were people in her life who cared.

"You sure did a number on this, Swan." Regina commented, waving her hand over the cracked screen of the mirror as it zipped itself up under her carefully guiding hand.

"Ok." She held the mirror out. Emma momentarily looked confused before remembering her magic was needed for both these tasks and feeling slightly smug.

"What?" Regina commented defensively, spotting the expression. "It's not like my magic is obsolete. This is just circumstantial." Regina rolled her eyes anticipating a comment as Emma's look turned into a playful smile.

She held her hand over the mirror. It buzzed and vibrated but not as much as they would have hoped. The screen flickered as Emma tried harder.

Regina examined it as best she could as Emma persevered. "Maybe the troll magic is interfering with mine. Or I've used too much..." She inferred.

"You should still have plenty. These amulets should last days unless we go opening any cross world portals. It must be the mix of the two. Let me try this..." Regina suggested before placing her hand on top of Emma's. Immediately the signal was stronger as the two of them worked together and Mary Margaret's voice began to crack through.

 _"Regina? Emma?"_ Mary Margaret's voice was coming through clearer. _"Can you see us? Are you OK?"_

"We're fine mom, you just caught us at a bad time before." Emma replied as the relief was visible on her mother's face. "I don't know how long this connection will last." she got a bit of a warning look from Regina to not to cause unnecessary overreaction. "I mean, because we're tired and are going to get some sleep..." She rescued deciding it was best to leave out the magic issue for now.

"Is Belle with you?" Regina asked getting back to business.

 _"Right here."_ They heard the voice as Mary Margaret moved the mirror. _"We're still researching. I found some more on rock trolls and something on the riddler. The soldier regiment of trolls are basically just there to protect the species and their assets. They swear a fierce loyalty to some fancy court or Arendelle and will do whatever it takes to follow through with them, that could be why they're not quite as friendly."_

"Yeh, once again we're ahead of you there." Emma rubbed her head. "Thing is, we managed to find that chalice you were talking about - or it could be. They had it so we stole it."

 _"You stole it from them?"_ Mary Margaret repeated, concerned.

"I don't need a morality check, mom. They were holding us captive. Anyway, it's got handles but it's got holes all along the bottom."

 _"That doesn't sound like a chalice..."_ Belle remarked, trying to look closely at it as Regina held her hand out with a "told you so" look.

"Well it's the only cup like thing we could find." Emma batted away the expression with a glare.

 _"And it definitely wasn't the thing in your dream?"_ Belle further queried.

"If it was we'd be trying to figure out a way home." Regina interrupted, brashly. "It isn't dissimilar but it's definitely not what we saw. That didn't have handles and it certainly didn't have holes. Do you have anything more?"

 _"Nothing new. Unfortunately most of the Arendelle scriptures are in an ancient language and it takes a while to translate when we don't really know what we're looking at. It's a slow process."_

"Funny you should mention that. We have a rhunic map. It may have some more for you to work with." Regina moved the mirror to show them the parchment. "We are still not sure what land we're in but we're hoping this may help us. We have some of the trolls' magic. Emma?"

"I'll give it a go..." She said nervously as she gripped the amulet tightly. Seeing she was struggling, the three spectators gave her a moment to focus.

"Your magic is still mixed in there, otherwise we wouldn't have the mirror. Just try and focus on projecting the troll magic onto the words of the page. Your magic will boost you on its own." Regina guided calmly before pausing for a few moments more. With a draw of breath the words on the page suddenly began to flicker and Regina quickly turned the mirror.

"It's working. Just hold it." She ordered as Belle and Mary Margaret quickly began to scribble. "OK - the markers seem to be leading to something called the Well of Obligation."

"Oblige, the riddler said _oblige_..." Emma commented as the words began to fade again.

"Keep focussed, Emma." Regina ordered as the map began to focus back.

"There is a small passage in the corner..." Regina began to read. "The pad, Regina, the pad." Emma suggested back lifting her arm to make her pocket available as Regina quickly got it out and began to scribble.

 _ **"They hid the source so that neither light or dark could access the great power alone"**_ she continued to read while both sides desperately started to jot it all down _"_ _ **and the dark within needs the light to leave -**_ _"_ She stopped as the rhunic flickered back. "Emma, just a little more - "

"I can't hold it. I can feel it draining..." She replied, clasping her eyes tight but to no avail. Regina looked and saw that any trace of the blue had now gone.

"It's over, the troll magic is used up." Regina note as Emma opened her eyes to look down.

 _"It's OK, we got that down and we managed to take a photo of the image of the rest. We'll try and see what we can translate and if the places match any land."_ Belle commented, immediately diving into a book.

 _"And what was it we found on riddlers?"_ Mary Margaret asked, remembering back. _"Right!"_ Belle threw open another book. _"There was a page in this book of magical beings. They are magical guides that direct you on your task."_

"Friend or foe?" Regina asked suspiciously. "And where are they from?"

 _"Nowhere specific. They only appear to people of great need and guide them on their journey. There is no guarantee of the best route as they cannot affect free will."_

Regina squeezed her fist in frustration.

"So what, like a flying Sat Nav that keeps adjusting its route?" Emma blinked as Mary Margaret shrugged.

"One with its voice choice stuck on cryptic and annoying." Regina remarked bitterly.

"Well at least we know we can trust him." Emma shrugged as Regina looked back wearily.

 _"You need to get some sleep."_ Mary Margaret suggested gently as both of the travellers nodded in agreement. "We will try. If you find anything tonight or tomorrow then let us know -" Emma replied. As they wrapped up the mirror call, all assigned to their tasks, they tucked it away and looked again at the map.

"I suppose tomorrow we need to find the well." Regina suggested. "If the flying vermin is sending us there then we should probably go." She began to pull out their equipment to camp as a smile grew across Emma's face. Catching it in the corner of her eye, Regina roughly threw a blanket at her to catch.

"Don't give me that look. I still don't trust him, whether he is harmless or not." She defended herself as Emma laughed, moving it on again. "So how do we get there? We still don't have the translation."

"Well, luckily for us, maps are in a universal language." Regina pointed to a spot on the map and up to a distinctive cliff edge that matched the drawing perfectly.

That would be tomorrow's challenge.

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 _ **Next Chapter Preview:**_

 _ **"I think it's about to come through. Can you hold on?" Regina yelled back as her purple faded and shot upwards and Emma's blinding light, now consuming them in a spiralling cylinder, began to whirr.**_ _ **There was a screeching of what sounded like birds and a darkness began to form at the top, filtering down through the white.**_

 _ **"I can try but I feel like I'm slipping. My energy..." Her words were straining before there was an almighty crack and the two of them felt themselves being plunged down as the black began to chase them.**_


	8. Challenges

**Hi all! Thanks for the reviews. They always make me smile! Here is the next chapter. Thanks again to Laura.**

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After the two had been travelling for half a day, they approached another clearing. The riddler had not returned but their map had been a bible to them.

"It looks like we're still on track." Emma commented, looking back at where they had come from and at the patterns of the hills around.

"So at least that rules out us being in Neverland." Regina added, remembering their first adventure together and what a challenge the map had been. "Whatever this well is or does it said we're going to need light and dark magic to access it. We're going to need both our powers combined."

"I guess it's a good day to have the Evil Queen as your wingman then." Emma jested as Regina raised an eyebrow.

"Well I could say the same about a former Dark One." She replied, reminding Emma that she wasn't the only one to flirt with darkness. "But we both know you're right, that is no doubt what the riddler has in mind by sending us this route."

"It sounded like only light magic can use whatever this thing is though." Emma remembered. "Or at least the dark magic will get trapped there without it."

"So dark magic can help the light get there but only the light can use the power. Typical." Regina rolled her eyes.

"Ah. The victim villain complex. It's been a while but good to see you, old friend." Emma teased as Regina threw her a glare. "I'm just saying. You never get good needing to help evil and then good getting left behind."

"I'm pretty sure that is literally the reason they put the caveat in there. If the protection is there to ensure you need both sides to collaborate they wouldn't want the bad guys to be able to just dispose of the good guys and run off with the goods." Emma defended the stance as Regina shrugged.

"I guess that is what I would do." She thought it over as Emma's eyebrow raised. "Would have done." Regina waved it off. "You know what I mean."

"Well..." Emma paused, holding the map out in front. "We're going to soon find out. I think we're here." They looked at the pattern of trees around them and double checked.

"The part that is circled is definitely here." She looked around as Regina put her hands on her hips. "But the well definitely isn't."

They scouted the grass checking for ruins.

"Come on then, little riddler man." Regina called out. "Aren't you going to share some words of wisdom. "You are here, now scratch your head 'cause without this clue you'll both be dead or whatever other pointless crap you want to feed us." She ridiculed as Emma shook her head with a laugh while kicking up some dirt. Underneath it she spotted the ground wasn't so soft.

"Wait, I found something." She bent down, wiping at the dusty soil below. It was a circular stone, deeply embedded in the dirt but with a yin and yang like sign that was desperately degraded. Cross-checking it with the map, she looked to read the words again. She had recognised the symbols.

"I think these could correspond to "light" and "dark". She matched them as Regina checked. "Maybe the well grows from it."

"It would make sense that if it's protected it's not open access." Regina agreed.

"So what do we have to do?" Emma looked between the stone and the map.

"I suppose we only have one way to find out." Regina stood opposite on the dark side of the plaque. Standing up to match her, the two women spread out their arms and gave each other a subtle nod. On their signal, both began to fire a stream of light into the stone. It immediately swirled through the grooves, flinging the dirt into the air and illuminating it with a backlight of purple and blended white. The two sorceresses began to shake with the pressure but Emma began to wince in pain. "Regina..." She yelled. "Something is wrong!" She shouted across as the lights grew brighter. Before they could react, the earth below them began to shake.

"I think it's about to come through. Can you hold on?" Regina yelled back as her purple faded and shot upwards and Emma's blinding light, now consuming them in a spiralling cylinder, began to whirr. There was a screeching of what sounded like birds and a darkness began to form at the top, filtering down through the white.

"I can try but I feel like I'm slipping. My energy..." Her words were straining before there was an almighty crack and the two of them felt themselves being plunged down as the black began to chase them. They disconnected from their magic but it had taken on a form of its own as they felt themselves falling through the air into an enormous cave. It was as if the ground had sucked them in, the earth now above and sealing up the two holes they had plunged through. While Emma's light splattered to swirl around the walls and ceiling, illuminating the chamber, the black magic had formed into a flock of crows, swarming and circling above.

Some magical force slowed them as their feet met a ledge, a wind battering them that was cyclically returning. "Well this is new!" Regina yelled across. The crows had now dispersed and each taken a perch on one of the blocks of light. Their tranquillity provided little comfort as each was lit up demonstrating their terrifying demeanour as if a countdown to the inevitable. Noting that Emma hadn't responded she looked over, seeing she was propping herself up against the wall, trying to breathe with exhaustion. She noted the colour on her amulet.

"Emma - " She shouted louder, catching her attention.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. I just wasn't expecting the plunge." She batted her away with her hand, but Regina persisted. Her state wasn't what she was worried about. "Your amulet." She pointed.

"What? What's wrong?" Emma asked, looking confused but catching her breath.

"The colour." Regina explained, as Emma looked down. The purple glint is almost faded. I think it's almost fully drained..."

"I thought they were going to last days?" Emma's eyes narrowed in confusion.

"They should have...but then they shouldn't have absorbed the troll magic." Regina cursed as Emma stood straighter, recovering from the drop and the drain. "You think the mix maxed it out?"

"I don't know what to think." Regina replied, the panic growing. "We just had a hundred foot drop into the ground and unless this is the well -"

"Look!" Emma cut her off, spotting a structure in the distance.

"Oh you have got to be kidding me!" She blasted, seeing that across the chasm was a collection of stones with a tiled roof.

"Why do I get the feeling we can't just materialise there?" Regina groaned.

"So we have to form a bridge of some kind..." Emma immediately got to work.

"You're about to run out of magic. You can't seriously be about to rush into this riddler's game!" Regina chastised her as Emma tried to see as much detail as she could, squinting across to their target.

"Well, I'm pretty sure we can't climb back up." She pointed out, noting their ledge was only about a 10 square yard size, otherwise surrounded by a drop too deep to see the bottom of.

"Wait! I've been in this situation before..." Emma's eyes flashed with inspiration. "Regina," she turned, trying to think of an admission. "The vandalism. The report and the graffiti on your tree. We concluded it was some local kids?"

Regina squinted in confusion as Emma looked between her and the well. Emma looked across before wincing, reluctant to do it, but determined.

"I lied. Killian did it with his hook one night when he was drunk and I hid the evidence. Well, the truth."

"Why the hell are you telling me that now? Because I can't kill you and still get out?" Regina spat back.

"Dammit." Emma cursed, ignoring Regina but looking to see there had been no change. "In Neverland we had to make a confession and it made a bridge grow. You try, maybe it needs us both to do it." She urged Regina on. Baffled by the plan she folded her arms, bracing herself against the constant turbulence in the air that was battering them.

"How about when we get back to Storybrooke I'm going to string Guyliner up from the tree until the bark grows back by itself! That confession enough?" Regina replied, playing along with frustration, but more annoyed at the idea.

"Well as the bridge still isn't here, no, so hopefully that means that's not true -" Emma replied sheepishly as Regina bit back.

"No, it means we're not in Neverland, Swan, as we already know. That cave was to humiliate, this one is to protect." She lectured, growing more annoyed but not for the reasons she was admitting.

"OK!" Emma shot back defensively. "I'm only trying, you can't be that mad about the tree right now, why are you yelling?"

Regina scrunched up her face, looking over to the well. Something else was on her mind.

"Listen." She finally responded, grabbing Emma's arm. "You need to take my amulet. Yours could run out any time now and I can't top it up. I made them with a potion."

"Regina..."

"I'm the most experienced with channelling magic in strange lands. Even if you can access it, it will be unpredictable. You may not be able to learn fast enough... "

"And you may not either. I could use the trolls' fast enough and I generally have the stronger - "

"Yes." Regina cut her off sharply. "So you keep reminding me." She squinted with a gentle chide. "But that is all the more reason you need to be top of your game. You're the strongest with the amulet and I'm the most experienced working at channelling what there is."

"Really? How long did it take you in Storybrooke to get it to work when the curse broke?"

"And how long did it take you full stop?" She hit back firmly as Emma bit back her response seeing the determination in Regina's eyes.

"We both had our rations. I'm not going to leave you vulnerable because I've used up mine. We'll figure it out." She insisted, taking the last word before moving on. Regina backed down, deciding not to debate further. Ultimately, she didn't need Emma's permission.

They were interrupted by the vibrations of the mirror again.

 _"Emma?"_ Belle's voice yelled through as the signal struggled through. _"We have the translation!"_

"Quick!" Emma ordered. "My magic is-" seeing Mary Margaret and Belle's concerned look Regina cut her off, grabbing her hand again to strengthen the signal.

"We have a challenge we need to get on with. What do you have?" She gave Emma a look to communicate that now was not the time to induce any motherly panic.

 _"The second passage. It says dark must protect and light has to find the way."_ Mary Margaret explained.

Regina tried walking towards the edge, eyeing each of the dormant crows and the distance they had to work with.

"That's all you have?" Emma checked.

 _"That was all that page said, other than places on the map."_

"It's OK. I have an idea." Regina worked it out, trying to juggle all the pieces of the puzzle in her mind.

"We have to go." Emma explained. "Love you, mom." They broke the connection and put the mirror away.

"I just need to try one thing first." Regina disappeared in a flash of her purple smoke before Emma could ask. She almost immediately came crashing back to the area she first landed as Emma hauled her back up to her feet. "I just needed to be certain that wouldn't work." She explained after her failed materialisation.

Conjuring herself a rod with a double headed axe she flexed her shoulders and practised swinging it round before latching it into a holster that had appeared over her back.

"You need to build a bridge using the lights in the cave." She explained.

"How does that work?" Emma asked.

"The lights, they're blocks. Blocks of pure magic. It creates _the way._ You poured them in and light magic commands them."

"And the crows? I'm guessing they aren't just there for decoration, especially when I start pulling down their perches." Emma put her hand up to shield the light to try and look at them. "Why do you need the weapon? If the blocks are the light then won't you be using the dark for the crows?"

"Yes, but I don't need to just kill them. I need to attract them to me. Keep distracted from you. The weapon is for insurance and something to draw their attention."

"Will I have enough magic?" Emma asked, taking another check at the amulet.

"You will." Regina insisted, earnestly. "There's enough to do it." As Emma turned to locate the blocks she would go for first, Regina bit her lip, gripping her own amulet. "Now, fast! The sooner this is done, the better."

Emma nodded, running forward as she held out her arms, approaching the edge and began to command. As her proximity to it increased, the crows began to grow restless. Caws began again and they all began to poise for attack.

"And Emma - " Regina added. "Whatever happens, you can get out without me. If it comes to it just do what -"

"We're both getting out." she insisted, giving Regina a final glance before facing the drop in front.

Emma steadied her arms again, deep in concentration. As she moved them out, flexing her hands, blocks from the edges of the cave began crashing down in front of her. Each one caused a thunderous clang as the light faded and they solidified into a rock step, merging to form a solid structure with only a faint glow compared to before.

With each one, a crow was displaced as they collected into a swarm and soon enough others began diving off their own rocks to form an army. Their screeching grew louder and the flock ducked and dived in their patterns edging closer and closer. The ones still remaining at the edge cheered them on with chilling calls. As Emma tried to move faster Regina saw the crows had split into two factions and were taking a final lap of the cave edge, their sights set on Emma.

"The first attack is coming." Regina shouted. "Just try and get as far forward as you can!"

Lighting the edge of the axe with a purple fire, Regina began to call and holler at the crows, successfully drawing their attention. She fired at one with a flick of her fingers, followed by another as their target lock changed, now forming a V shape towards her.

As the crows began to dive, locked on their target, Regina began to walk backwards catching up with Emma before sending out a first blast. A sphere of purple light blasted out from her centre, scattering the approaching crows and vaporising a handful, but their attack was just the first wave. With the backdrop of the deafening screeches, Emma continued to pull the blocks, trying to advance each time, Regina a few steps behind and the two back to back.

As the crows regrouped Regina turned to see Emma struggling with the blocks. She could see they weren't moving as fast and knew it was time to do what she had planned to do from the start. She touched her hand to the amulet on her neck without her deeply focussed companion noticing.

As she moved her hand from it, it was revealed to have taken the faded colour of Emma's.

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 _ **Next Chapter Preview:**_

 _ **She could feel the impact of her blasts reducing each time until eventually she was barely getting a flicker. The amulet had now returned to the colour it was when they first retrieved them. A clear swirl of nothing with a grey tint.**_

 _ **Drawing her insurance axe, she began to use that to get the closest swarm and she had successfully drawn them from Emma who was running far ahead, pulling blocks as fast and furiously as she could with the dulling tint of the light around them.**_


	9. Plummet

_**Hi folks. Sorry for the delay in posting! Hope you enjoy Chapter 9. Thanks to Laura as always and to those reading/reviewing/messaging.**_

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As Regina looked back at her partner, she saw that the block Emma had been attempting to haul now came flying down with renewed speed.

"You're getting the hang of it." Regina shouted to avoid any suspicion, looking out as the crows were now once again drawing their final patterns just before the next attack.

"Come on." The witch muttered under her breath to her replaced amulet. "Just give me a few more bursts."

As each block came into place, more light was lost in the cave and from left and right the crows, breaking into smaller groups of attack, continued their monotonous patterns of swooping and swerving. Now in attack mode, ten approached from the right, successfully still being drawn to Regina as she blasted them backwards. Another ten came immediately after from the left. Emma ducked as two tried to attack her as she moved ahead, Regina barely having time to swing round to get them before three more attacked her. She could feel the impact of her blasts reducing each time until eventually she was barely getting a flicker. The amulet had now returned to the colour it was when they first retrieved them. A clear swirl of nothingness with a grey tint.

Drawing her insurance axe, but now without its flame, she began to use that to get the closest swarm. She had successfully drawn them from Emma who was running far ahead, pulling blocks as fast and furiously as she could with the dulling tint of the light around them.

"Nearly half way I think!" She called over to Regina who was furiously swinging her axe, slicing through the crows. Each she hit evaporated into feathers and disappeared in a smoke with more multiplying from the remains each time. The lack of her power was now overwhelming and she was focussing more on keeping her footing than hitting the crows.

Deciding to try her luck with the local magic, Regina tried to blast with her hand. It successfully blew up three of the crows but the impact was misjudged, exploding in a white blast and sending her to the floor. She clung on, pulling herself back up and swinging the weapon again, taking out two more.

"Come on, Regina." She tried to encourage herself, hoping Emma was too far along to have noticed. As long as she kept the crows there with her, even if just as bait, Emma could make it across. She tried another shot, this time taking out two of the beasts with a creamy glow but the cost was an explosion from the part she had just lifted her foot from. This was enough to draw Emma's attention as the entire bridge shook. Looking backwards, Emma saw her companion struggling to wield off the group and noticed that the purple glow around the axe had gone.

"Regina!" She called as her friend was now almost completely obscured by the flock. There was a large one clawing at her hair and a dozen pulling at her clothing, trying to drag her down. As Regina tried to fight her way out she lost her balance and fell. She dropped to the bridge edge, holding on only by digging her axe into the stone. She tried to fire another blast, this time the purple tint had returned to her magic but the effort from her position caused her to lose her grip further as her hold dropped a little down the handle. At this point Emma got a good enough view of the amulet to see it wasn't just the axe that had lost its glow. She lifted her own necklace and instantly clocked the suddenly renewed vibrance it had.

"She didn't!" She cursed, realising what had happened. Partially infuriated, she swiped her hand at the crows, a blast of white light taking them out but causing some of the blocks to fall away, just as Regina had when she had channelled the cream-coloured local magic. Emma stumbled but jumped forward, running towards where Regina was.

"It's not worth it. Keep going! The crows will stay attacking me as long as you don't provoke them!" Regina yelled, clawing to get back up as Emma ignored her command. Swiping her arm to lift Regina back onto the bridge, she sent another blast to the crows. This time the penalty was sacrificing the latest blocks she had added as they crumbled straight off the end.

"I can't believe you switched them!" She yelled at her mentor, summoning a sword of her own and taking a swipe at the flying demons. They were now attacking her the more that she was responding to them.

"You don't need me to use the well, just go! Get to the well and get _out!_ Worst case come back find me after somehow. _"_ Regina ordered, finding her feet again and taking out five of their aggressors. "I am not leaving you!" Emma insisted putting out another blast, shortening the bridge by another three rocks.

"Each time you do that with the light magic you break the rules! It's the same when I use the magic from here. Stop being so stubborn and finish the _bridge!"_ Regina shot again as Emma had a flash of inspiration thinking back to Regina's earlier words.

Trying her hardest to focus, she tried to access something she hadn't done since before the trip to the underworld. She tried to channel that morsel left in her that had allowed her to still hear the dagger. As she chopped her hand outwards, a powerful blast of black smoke took out a good twenty of the crows.

"As you pointed out, you're not the only one with magic!" She shouted over the crowing as she sent out another wave. There was another explosion of feathers, but this time something else started to swirl from the smoke. The two had a brief break in attack for them to pause in awe. The feathers reformed and produced three black swans.

"I think I preferred only my dark magic..." Regina commented, her eyes filling with fear. Thinking quick, Emma began to circle a swirl of black around encasing them from the winged creatures and evaporating those that attempted to penetrate it. The sudden change in colour sparked an idea in Regina's head.

"Wait, you're right. We _both_ have both! Grab my hand!" Regina commanded. Emma did as she said as five more swans grew from the smoke of those that had perished. Regina hooked the working amulet in her hand and, channelling its power, she moved it from around Emma's neck to be wrapped around the wrists of both of them.

"On the count of three, blast them all and then we switch to pull the blocks." Regina shouted across the mix of the turbulence from Emma's forcefield and the persistent screeches of the circling birds.

"1...2...3!" The two of them exploded their free arm out, destroying half the crows and sending the swans hurtling backwards.

"Now get as many blocks as you can with your light." Regina followed up as the two of them began to flail desperately, trying to access as many at once. Their combined power was faster than Emma's alone, but the swans were regrouping and forming a tight V shape that was rocketing towards them.

"Ready for another blast?" Regina shouted as Emma nodded. They paused their block-drawing to get another blast out and as the birds were impeded again they got into a rhythm of the swap between the two forms of power. After the third blast, the bridge was almost complete, but due to the lost bricks of before they were short about 2 yards of stone and now, with the fainter glow of the blocks, they were almost in the pitch black.

"We're going to have to jump." Emma shouted as the two moved back a few paces to take a run. Just as they were about to launch themselves, an extra flock of crows came from below, whipping around them. The combination of the shock and the proximity caused Emma to lose her footing just before reaching the ledge of the well's ground. As she slipped she sent out one obliterating blast, finally destroying the last of the birds but clambering off the edge. She made a violent grab at the chain as it fell from around their wrists. As she slipped, Regina once again dug her axe into the ground, preventing both of them from cannon-balling into the abyss below. While Regina was secured, Emma was only supported by her grip on the magically strong chain as she dangled off the end of it. Regina had a tight clasp on the other side but neither of them had a secure enough handle on it to be able to claim the magic. The amulet connected the two sides of the chain and hung half way between their hands.

"Regina, this may be magically strong but it won't hold for long and you can't pull me up!" Emma shouted up. "Now it's your turn to just go on! Your light magic works too, we just proved it!" She made out through the pain of the pull on her arm. "I'm going to let go!"

"Don't you dare, Swan! If I can't be the martyr, neither can you!" Regina chastised, trying her hardest to hold. She could feel the axe grip slipping with Emma's weight, slowly descending. As she tried to think it over, her eyes glowed with enlightenment.

"But wait, _I_ can let go. It'll be just like the first time at the bridge!"

"What?" Emma exclaimed.

"Just hold on tight, get the amulet on you and materialise. It's a big drop, you have time."

"And what if I can't? Then you lose the amulet too!" Emma pleaded as she felt her grip waning. "You'll be trapped."

"You can do it, Emma, just stay calm. You may not be able to materialise to here but at least get on the bridge. I'm going to let go, are you ready?"

Emma tightened both of her fists and took a deep breath. "OK. Go!" She winced, focussing on the rock.

"And be aware that the birds may come back as soon as you're back on that bridge –" Regina quickly added just before she let go. The sudden release felt like a rush of adrenaline as the sounds around were dulled by a sweeping buzz, much like going through the portal. As her pace quickened, Emma pulled the chain tight to her chest and tried to loop it round her wrist, deducing it was easier than putting it around her neck. She spun around and clasped both hands around the gem for extra assurance and focussed on her movement. After what felt like a never ending plummet, she puffed into a swirl of grey smoke.

Attempting to direct herself to where Regina was, she felt the resistance being thrust backwards and landing, like her partner had, full force to the floor of their original starting point. Knowing there was no time to waste as the caws and calls once again began, she ran full pelt across the bridge. The light around her was faint, making it hard to see at the speed she was running, but she had full focus on each bound. The crows came at her from behind, three of them making a first attack which she blasted, without pause. The feathers scattered as before but in her haste she had chosen the wrong magic and a brick exploded in front of her causing her to leap and stumble.

"Damn this switching!" She cursed angrily, finding her feet and trying not to lose any pace. Pirouetting, she sent a tidal wave of black smoke at the onslaught and obliterated the entire first wave of attacking birds.

"That girl has some skill…" Regina muttered, still unable to believe the power she was sporting, no matter how many times she witnessed it.

Un-phased and determined, Emma continued her run with the time bought by her blast. In a direct response, the crows were now popping into a dark stream of light, reforming as a swan bigger than all the previous ones put together.

Regina's eyes bulged, seeing the elephant sized demon that had been conjured. It was made purely of swirly black beads, but no less deadly than if it were real. Emma leaped over the patches where Regina's failed magic had blown holes in the bridge while trying to cast back another blast. This time it only temporarily moved the swan back but it gave her a moment of time to cover more ground.

Seeing that she had a clean run of bricks almost until the end, she turned backwards to run a few paces, firing at it again. The swan screeched and bucked its neck, giving a great breadth to its wingspan before making one final dive.

"Last push, Emma!" Regina cheered her on as she prepared her final run. She pushed all she had, her head thumping with blood and pressure, and made three striding bounds to the edge, the swan's beak inches behind.

"Finish it off!" She gave a piercing battle cry as Regina got the message and braced herself ready.

Pushing every breath of energy into it, Emma leaped from the bridge, flinging the amulet magically around Regina's neck and landing by her as Regina sent a shockwave of purple crystals into the swan, splitting it into a thousand wisps of black smoke and finally laying it to rest. There was a deafening crash as the bridge fell behind them and an earthquake below began to toss and shake them as they both ducked. There was a searing light that shot up around them as the cave fell away causing a wash of cool air. The damp cold of the wet rock below them sprouted grass and the blinding white light turned into the natural light of the sun.

They had returned to where they had began, but now in the place of the stone, there was the glorious frame of the well.

* * *

 _ **Next Chapter Preview:  
**_

 _ **"Hey, maybe we need to get the water from the well and sprinkle it over us." Emma's eyes popped with excitement at the story. "Like a baptism or - " she paused, noting Regina's unimpressed expression.**_

 _ **"I nominate Regina." Hook chimed in.**_

 _ **"I'd do it if it means I can also command your silence." The witch threatened as Emma cut her off with another idea, pacing around the well.**_


	10. Containment

_**Hi All, sorry it's been a little while. Here's the next chapter - and thanks to Laura as always.**_

* * *

"Rock based security doesn't sound like such a bad idea now, does it?" Emma panted collapsing onto the floor. "And does this place seem brighter to you? I feel like the sun is now an interrogation lamp." She squinted as her eyes adjusted.

"We just fought off a swarm of black air demons in an underground cave. It would seem brighter even if we'd popped back up in the underworld." Regina groaned back.

"Please say this is it." Emma continued. "Please say this well is what stole our magic and we can go home." She closed her eyes, bracing her forearm across her forehead.

"Don't count on it. It's not going to be that easy." Regina stretched her back out, gauging their surroundings before similarly dropping onto the floor and resting her head in her arms. Both were exhausted from the ordeal and more so, feeling the come down from the adrenaline.

"That _easy?"_ Emma replied in shock. "I'd relinquish both my light and dark magic to never have to worry about what type I'm using again. What the hell kind of protection discriminates like that anyway? I thought the good guys were meant to have it easy?" She moaned, her pulse still trying to recover.

"I think needing light magic to leave was more complicated than we thought. This was clearly designed so you didn't just need dark or light magic, you needed genuine collaboration." Regina thought it through. "Whatever this well is, they don't want either side to have it without regulation."

"Maybe that's where the obligation comes in." Emma suggested rubbing her face before turning to look at Regina. "Neither one could have got there without needing the other. You couldn't fake nice to get to that prize."

"Self-sacrifice didn't work too well either. I think both needed to survive too." Regina pointed out as Emma pierced her with her eyes.

"On that note -"

"Oh don't start, Emma." Regina got up and walked towards the well to hide herself from the chastisement. "You can fight crows with weapons, pulling those rocks needed magic. I made an executive decision."

"Which could have gotten you killed! Getting our magic back isn't worth losing our lives for."

"Isn't it?" Regina folded her arms and looked back to fight her corner. "This is turning out to be something more than just our magic. This is getting bigger than both of us." Her voice dropped with genuine concern, replacing Emma's anger with rattled curiosity

"Have you figured something out?" Emma asked, her annoyance subsiding as she grew rattled by the serious look on Regina's face. The former queen paused trying to work out what she could be missing. There was something about this place, something about the steps they had gone through, something about the amulets that she just couldn't put her finger on but the uneasiness all pointed to one thing. Someone's master plan.

"All I have figured out is that we need to make sure we preserve our most powerful magic. We could be up against a big enemy." She looked back to her travelling companion. "Reckless as you are," she continued with a hint of resentment, "and as questionable as your methods can be, it's pretty clear you are running this show."

"Regina - "

"I'm not saying that for sympathy." She dismissed the imminent compliments. "I'm saying it because it's practical. We'd be foolish to ignore your natural flair. That's why I wanted you with me in the first place and I'm not going to lose you now. And before you think it's all about you just imagine what hell I'd get from your mother if I went back without you. Preserving you is self-preservation in more ways than one. As I say, it's all practical."

"Well," Emma argued back. " maybe being practical also means that if this is bigger than you think, your knowledge is going to be as important as any of my skills. You have knowledge and understanding and most importantly experience. We need that. And right now we need it for figuring out what on earth this thing is." She jerked her head towards the well as Regina peered over the edge. The water level was high, high enough to touch. She could see her reflection quietly dancing in the ripples but it didn't appear to have anything exceptional about it. She saw Emma's face appear next to hers with an equally puzzled expression.

"So what do you know about magical wells?" Emma asked before extending out her hand to touch the surface. Regina grabbed her wrist before she could make contact.

"I know to look and not touch before we know what we're dealing with." Still with the amulet in her possession, Regina held her hands over the well. She closed her eyes and there was a glow that began to spread between them and the water. Emma gazed rabidly trying to understand what was going on before Regina chopped out her hands and the glow disappeared.

"It's not been cursed." She said. "Whatever power this has it's not directly harmful."

"How do you know?" Emma squinted.

"I was testing it for dark magic and any signs of tampering. A little trick I learned to detect poison."

"You were worried someone was going to poison you?" Emma mused as the mirror began to buzz and Regina raised her eyebrows.

"Come to think of it, I'm not sure why I am surprised at that." She added, opening the mirror.

"Mom! We were just talking about you. Kind of..." She added under her breath as Mary Margaret and Belle once again appeared, this time with Hook behind them.

"Oh look. It's Captain Vandal." Regina snarked as Emma looked at her bashfully, suddenly regretting that particular method of trial and error.

 _"Nice to see you too, Regina. I see absence has not made the heart grow fonder."_ He replied.

"No. And I intend to end your absence from court ordered community service but we'll discuss that when we return. At length." She squinted as Hook looked to Emma who gave him an apologetic shrug.

 _"Did you find the well? Where were you?"_ Mary Margaret spoke up too focussed on the tasks at hand to care about side discussions. Regina and Emma exchanged a shared look of sympathy. "Oh we found it, and thanks for the translation. It really helped - in a manner of speaking." Emma explained. "Please tell us you have something on the well."

 _"We haven't found any new sources but we translated a bit more from what you showed us."_ Belle replied, lifting a piece of paper. _"The well seems to be able to command people to say whatever the user wants. It could be used to force people to chant spells or passwords I guess."_

"What so you're obliged to say whatever someone wants you to say? Is that it?"

 _"That is what was written."_

"Why would it need such high protection for that?" Emma turned to Regina who was trying to work it out.

"It could have been a backfired curse or sometimes elements can have natural properties that nobody knows the origin. Then again even words can be powerful tools. I guess that could be useful to a puppet master."

 _"Hey, didn't you say something about a puppeteer before?"_ Mary Margaret turned to Belle.

 _"Yes...that came up. A guy who had his rod split."_

 _"Sounds painful..."_ Hook remarked with a snigger as Regina rolled her eyes and Emma gave him a gentle smile.

"Have you got something to add to this, Hook, or are you just here for the comments?"

 _"I do actually. I thought you'd like to know that we're not the only realm missing magic. "_

"How on earth did you find that out?" Regina asked cynically. "

 _"I have my contacts."_ He answered picking at a fingernail with his hook. _"You don't have to be magical to receive messages you know."_

"Stop the cryptic, Killian." Emma said before Regina could be riled any further. "What exactly did you find out and how?"

 _"Robin and I were scouting around the portal for signs and there was a sudden strong wind, some might even say tornado like. Next thing we know there is a flash of greeny white by one of the trees and something began to scratch at the bark."_

Emma whipped out her pad and began to scribble. "What was it?"

 _"Glinda. My magic's been stolen. They're stealing more. Don't let them."_ Hook began to recite from a scrap of paper. _" Get cup."_ As Emma wrote the last word Regina slapped her hands down.

"Great!" She spat. "Everyone wants us to get the damn cup but still no-one is telling us what to do with it!" She added, frustrated, looking over the well.

"Well at least we know that's Oz, us and Arendelle without magic. We know whoever the _"they're"_ is they're stealing from other realms." Emma reasoned. "Though that means you could be right about bigger picture."

 _"Robin and David are now working with the fairies to try and make contact with other lands."_ Hook finished explaining as Mary Margaret picked up the thread.

 _"What can you tell about the well?"_ She asked, trying to raise spirits. _"There must be something you can detect?"_

"Nothing, except that I ruled out that it's been cursed."

"Could it be like that one August shows me that returns lost things?" Emma weighed in. "It'll somehow call our powers and force their return." She tried to make sense of the riddle. "I suppose it has to have something to do with forcing someone to say something."

 _"It could be that the powers are locked with a spell that someone has to say?"_ Belle suggested. _"The cup must play a part too."_ She deduced.

"Yeh, if we need to water the plants around the well..." Regina scoffed. "This is a glorified salt shaker."

"Hey, maybe we need to get the water from the well and sprinkle it over us." Emma's eyes popped with excitement at the story. "Like a baptism or - " she paused, noting Regina's unimpressed expression.

 _"I nominate Regina."_ Hook chimed in.

"I'd do it if it means I can also command your silence." The witch threatened as Emma cut her off with another idea, pacing around the well.

"Or maybe we have to dive in...it said sink or swim." She shrugged as Regina raised an eyebrow towards her. "Don't worry, you're a witch. You'll float." Emma teased with a gentle smile as the others tried not to laugh.

"What I said to him applies to you too you know." Regina squinted. "I need you alive, not necessarily talking."

 _"If I were you I would try it all."_ Belle brought them back to focus. _"Scoop up some water with the cup, try spells, try even drinking it -"_

 _"If you're sure it's safe."_ Mary Margaret cut her off.

"We'll give a few things a go." Emma reassured them. "Then we'll get back to you either way. Just keep looking." They once again said their goodbyes before the two of them took a few moments staring into the water.

"Well if you won't try it, I will." Emma finally had enough of the theories. She took their prize and scooped up a cup full before Regina could challenge her decision.

Both of them watched as they were rewarded with absolutely nothing. The cup filled but as expected it immediately drained through the bottom.

"Well that was...completely expected." Regina commented, folding her arms as Emma scrunched her lips up in thought.

Emma took her pad out, trying to be optimistic amid her companion's negativity and looked out the page with the riddler's rhyme.

 _"See if your name will sink or swim."_ She read aloud before looking back down.

"Emma Swan." She shouted into the well as Regina watched cynically. "The Saviour." She attempted. With still no change she filled the cup up again and winced.

"Emma Swan, the Saviour and former Dark One." She shouted in again before holding the cup over her head, sprinkling the liquid down over herself. Once again nothing happened except Regina giving her an incredulous look. She shook the water from her hair. "What? At least I'm trying!" She protested, losing patience with Regina's lack of cooperation.

"Alright, let me try." Regina conceded. "But I'm not jumping in."

She took the cup cautiously dipped it under the surface. Filling it up again she said her name and then winced before taking a swig of it and gulping it down with a look of disgust. Once again nothing came of it, finally snapping Emma's patience as well as Regina's.

"You're right. This is pointless!" Emma huffed, ripping the page out of her notebook and tossing it in the well before spinning round and bursting into the riddler's refrain with a look of confusion. _**"You beat the trolls and got their prize now you can make them all oblige, your powers combined can let you in and use your name to sink or swim."**_

"Saying it over and over again won't help, Swan. I keep telling you, he's useless." Regina lectured as Emma grabbed her arm.

"No, Regina...I didn't say that...I mean, I _did_ say that but I didn't mean to..." She looked at her sternly in fascination. "It felt like it did when you used to command me with the dagger...like I had no control over the words."

Regina immediately sprung to attention, looking into the well. The paper had disappeared.

"Give me the pad." She ordered as Emma did so. Scribbling something down without Emma seeing, she tore the page off and threw it in.

 _ **"This is a test."**_ Emma bleated out before looking to Regina with hope and surprise in her eyes. "You need to write it down to make it work?" She queried, scrunching up her face.

"Emma..." Regina muttered allowed, thinking it over.

"What?"

"No." Regina asserted, showing her the pad. "Your name is on the pad, remember? Your name will sink or swim."

Giving the mayor a glance of understanding, Emma took the pad and scribbled down her own test. She tossed it in the well and as before the paper immediately fizzled as it touched the water.

 _ **"I never give your parents enough credit. They produced a smart girl."**_ Regina said before looking at Emma confused. "Hey! I didn't think that and my name's not there. What did you do?" She asked as a smile suddenly grew on Emma's face

"I scored out my name and wrote yours - we've done it..." She bobbed up and down in excitement as Regina talked it through, relieved that had made progress but still confused.

"But even assuming we can use this to unlock our power with a spell or whatever it needs…we can't exactly take the well with us wherever the magic is. We don't even know where that is."

"But..." Emma looked at the cup Regina had placed on the side of the well before writing something else down.

Taking the artefact and filling it again, this time she held the notepad under the stream of water that flowed through the holes.

 _ **"I promise not to punish Hook for the tree if you tell me the idea you are thinking of."**_ Regina said before biting her lip. "OK, can we go back to using your name. And that promise doesn't count!" She added, taking control of her words again as Emma chuckled.

"I know, but I will tell you anyway. You made a potion to distil magic for the amulets right?" Emma pointed the cup at Regina who nodded nervously with a "mmhmm".

"But you also said you did a containment spell..."

"Right..." A flash of hope now glowed over Regina's eyes. Emma placed the notepad on the side of the well to free her hand and held it out, the two of them immediately wired into each other's plans. Regina wrapped the amulet around their wrist as in the cave and Emma readied the cup. With a nod from her partner, Emma dipped it in but before she raised the bottom above the surface, Regina closed her eyes and fired out a stream from her hand. Tuning into it, Emma followed suit and joined it up with a white light of her own. The cup began to glow yellow until there was a flash of light and their streams stopped. With another look to Regina, Emma slowly lifted it out, but this time there was no cascade of water from below it.

Unwrapping their hands, Regina took the pad and wrote out another short note before holding it out below the chalice. Emma shook it over and a few drops fell but no more than a splatter.

 _ **"We wouldn't have got here without you, your majesty, but I think we've done it."**_ Emma spat out the words robotically before giving Regina a wide smile.

"And that I actually do!"

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 _ **Next Chapter Preview**_

 _ **"I don't need to know, Emma. I'm sure Regina has done something amazing." Mary Margaret replied before looking confused. "Wait, what?"**_

 _ **Emma raised an eyebrow at a smug looking Regina.**_

 _ **"You told me to relax and have fun. And now we know it works across realms." She replied as Emma shook her head with a smile before explaining.**_


	11. Answers

**_I know it's been an age and a half but a lot has been going on with my life. Sorry for the delay. The story is fully written though, so anyone still with me now you will see the end of it - that is a promise! Thanks for your patience, and YAY for new series! Hope you enjoy this chapter. Reviews very welcome - especially if folks are hanging on with me!_**

* * *

 _ **"How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood.**_ Emma!" Regina yelled as soon as she had control of her words back. "Could you at least pretend to be an adult?" She chastised as Emma giggled.

"Oh come on. We both nearly died. It's about time we had some fun."

"Well some of us are too busy trying to find our magic to have time for fun - you're meant to be studying that thing, not playing with it."

"I am studying it. I'm testing if it works for complicated sentence structure." She explained with a smile as Regina glared at her, unimpressed. "I've also proven that somehow, no matter how many times I use it, the water level inside doesn't drop. It's got some kind of magical refill. Look! I can even turn it upside down!" She noted, demonstrating.

"Well at least that's something." Regina conceded looking back to the map they had been using with a dishevelled grimace.

"So what about you? You've been staring at those documents for ages." Emma remarked. Regina brushed a hand through her hair, bracing her neck.

"I was hoping it would give me some idea of where we are, but judging by some of the things marked on here I think it's very old. They just don't match what's around us. I've tried casting some spells on it but nothing that is of any use. _ **I guess that means you're working harder than I am after all.**_ Give me that!" Regina snatched the cup off her smirking partner before a wind gathered up around them. This time they barely batted an eyelid knowing what would follow. As expected, the riddler erupted in front of them.

 _"Your challenge was met, the well was beat; now to the great hall guide your feet. To let you in the guards can call, then you must chant; restore it all."_

He whizzed past both Regina and Emma and whipped up the pad and the map in turn before they were blown back by an explosion of light.

"If I still had the cup I'd be making you say how you kind of like him after all." Emma teased, opening the pad the cat had dropped back before he'd disappeared.

"If he can prove that to me, I'll be first to say it myself. What did he write?" Regina asked looking over as Emma skimmed down. Something was scrawled across but it was written in rhunic with the addition of Regina's name below Emma's.

"Why are they so crazy about this language?" Emma complained, tossing it down.

"Well this path doesn't need translating." Regina held the map out and pointed to a line that he had left them.

"Well..." Emma shielded her eyes from the sun looking over to the closest collection of buildings in the distance. "Is it pointing there?"

Regina followed the line of vision she was indicating and compared it with the map. "Yeh...I guess."

"Are you sure you don't recognise that city?" Emma asked. "It looks kind of grand and distinctive, don't you think? I don't know - maybe it is a part of Oz or Wonderland? Kind of looks like it could be."

"Distinctively uninspired maybe, but grand? No doubt you have your impressions from some movie." Regina tucked the map away, raising an eyebrow as Emma shrugged. "Trust me, those places were built by people who had a flair for the fancy. Whoever built this city was probably copying whatever interpretations you've seen to fake importance."

"It looks pretty fancy to me." Emma pointed, squinting across the trees from the hill they were on to the collection of glowing houses and buildings in the distance.

"You have low standards. If we ever get back to Storybrooke your parents need to teach you something about magical kingdoms." Regina judged as Emma raised her hands up in defeat, not entirely convinced but not willing to waste time arguing.

"How about we get Belle on that rhyme. Hopefully she'll have got back to us by the time we reach this hall or whatever sorry excuse for one it is."

Emma pulled the mirror out and slipped her hand through Regina's necklace, somewhat invading her space.

"Next time I'm bringing a spare one." Regina mumbled, displeased at their awkward positioning. "Why don't you just take it off me and use it yourself?

"I just need it to make the contact." Emma pacified her as she channelled the magic, focussing on the mirror. "I told you, I'm not leaving you defenceless just because mine ran out. Your magic reflexes are faster and my one on one combat is better." She flashed a hand over the object as Regina shook her head in bitter submission. "It's a real power drain though isn't it?" Emma noted a sudden dreariness around her as she channelled the power through, noting the difference she felt using it via Regina.

"Does your magic always feel this dark? It's like the whole world is a little more grey. No wonder you're grumpy half the time." She noted as Regina furrowed her brow.

"Are you done?" She replied, not impressed by the commentary.

As the call connected, Emma moved her hand from its grasp around the amulet.

 _"Emma? Did you have any luck?"_ Mary Margaret answered as they connected.

"Guess what!" Emma chimed as the others came into focus, Regina had reached for the cup and noted something down on a scrap of paper.

 _ **"I don't need to know, Emma. I'm sure Regina has done something amazing."**_ Mary Margaret replied before looking confused. "Wait, what?"

Emma raised an eyebrow at a smug looking Regina.

"You told me to relax and have fun. And now we know it works across realms." She replied as Emma shook her head with a smile before explaining.

"We found out how to work the cup. It holds water from the well and if you sprinkle someone's name with it you can make them say whatever you write below."

 _"So it literally does make you say whatever someone else wants?"_ Belle queried, jotting it down.

"Exactly." Regina replied. "For example..." she shook it again over another message.

 _ **"I'm sorry I'm so bad with secrets."**_ Mary Margaret quickly belted out before and raising her hands to her mouth in an attempt to stop it moving involuntarily. _"Seriously?! Still?"_ She muffled through her fingers.

"Just making the most if it." Regina dotted something on the next page as Emma reached over from her own position and took her turn confiscating the cup. She dribbled it over her own note before Regina had a chance to get in her second dig.

 _ **"I'm sorry Mary Margaret. I know I was worse and it's impressive you forgave me."**_ Regina obediently spat out as she lunged over trying to snatch it back. Emma placed the cup to her side out of easy reach for both.

"And as much fun as we're having with it..." She batted away Regina's reaching hand. "Our riddler friend returned and we need you to take a look at what this could mean."

She tore out the page and held it up as Belle tried to jot it down, Regina conceding and folding her arms.

 _"Did he say anything else?"_ Mary Margaret asked, now it was safe to free her mouth again.

"Apparently we need to go to a great hall, use the cup to trick the guards to announce we should be let in and then say this chant." As Emma explained, Regina's face creased in thought.

"Don't those instructions seem unusually specific?" She turned to Emma, thinking it back to the others.

The blonde shrugged, picking up the cup again and playing with it in her hands.

"I'm still more baffled by how specific the power of the cup is." She admitted. "Sure, we can get the guards to let us in, but they know they're saying it? Won't they immediately just stop us?"

 _"Unless you can do more than just command words."_ Mary Margaret shrugged as Belle quickly read. _"What if you can plant thoughts or demand answers?"_

"Huh." Emma took in the suggestions, suddenly a brainwave hitting her as she tapped her lip with the pen.

 _"Ok, I can get a couple of words from what we had before..."_ Belle explained, darting between the note of the chant and her previous translations. _"But the word 'power' is definitely there and I also found 'magic' and 'people'. Best guess would be it calls power and returns it? I'll need some time to work out the rest."_

"What do you think Regina, of Belle's help?" Emma asked.

 _ **"I am not sure what we'd do without her. I know I don't thank her enough."**_ Regina replied before quickly darting a glare at Emma as Belle exchanged a bashful look with a confused Mary Margaret.

"I thought we were in a ceasefire!" Regina complained.

"Oh you can fire back if you want but I think you'll be too impressed." Emma replied smugly.

"Here..." She applied the water again. "Ask me any question you like."

Regina eyed her partner up and down, thinking carefully. Squinting her eyes, she folded her arms.

"Did you have anything to do with Hook and the tree incident and were you there?"

Emma bit down on her bottom lip, closing her eyes but was unable to hold for long.

 _ **"I dared him to do it but it was a joke. We were both drunk and I didn't actually think that he would be dumb enough to."**_ The words flowed out like a train as Regina tipped her head. "OK, I could have thought of a better way to demonstrate this..." Emma admitted, dipping down her eyebrows.

"And that you'll regret later, but for now you're right; I am too impressed to be mad. How did you make it do that?"

"Placeholders. Back in the old days, programming nerds that made our tracking stuff actually taught me a thing or two. I didn't think it would be up with code - and honestly I never paid much attention to what it was - so I just thought about and wrote 'truth' in brackets. Somehow it worked."

"Magic often connects with our intentions. That's why we have to focus when we use it." Regina explained.

 _"And some objects do the same."_ Belle added. _"Especially ones that can be used by mortals like beans for portals. It's really the only way non magic people could use them."_

"Which means this could have been designed for a mortal to get one over on witches. It usually just deludes common folk into thinking they can actually outsmart those who actually possess magic." Regina added smugly.

 _"Interesting."_ Mary Margaret got a devilish look in her eye before sending a silent signal to Emma who quickly produced the same glint.

 _"So you've never been outsmarted by common folk, Regina? Maybe even Snow White and Prince Charming?"_

Regina quickly tried to grab at Emma, catching onto their plan, but it was too late.

 _ **"I've been outsmarted several times, especially by you both."**_ She bleated out. "But mostly because you had an unfair advantage." She added, piercing Emma with a glare.

 _"Well at least this proves it works. I never thought I'd hear you say that."_ Mary Margaret folded her arms.

"Yes. Now this means we have some back up to my superpower." Emma sat back contently as silence followed and she caught hidden looks from all three.

"What?" She commented defensively as Mary Margaret gave her a sympathetic smile.

"Mom?" Emma narrowed her eyes, writing something down and giving the cup a shake over it. "What is it?"

 _ **"We're happy to play along and nobody denies that you often have good intuition but your superpower pretty much only works on Henry."**_ Mary Margaret finished, slapping her hands to her face. _"Emma! Did you actually just do that to your own mother?"_ She gasped, horrified her daughter use it against her.

"I did." She replied stonily as Mary Margaret pickled pink and diverted her eyes. "Only on Henry, huh?"

 _"Can suggest you avoid using it too much...this could get a little dicey."_ Belle intervened as Mary Margaret nodded.

 _"I agree."_ She added briskly. _"Let's just not play with the cup anymore."_ She ordered, folding her arms.

"Fun as it is, I do actually agree with Belle and Mary Margaret." Regina weighed in.

"Well maybe since my superpower is so pathetic I should ask you all questions." Emma squinted, petulantly.

"Have you lied to your mom at all in the last few days Emma?" Regina asked giving the cup a shake.

 _ **"Only when I pretended I had a plan so that mom wouldn't get all naggy."**_ She replied before closing her eyes. "OK. I agree. Let's put it away." She conceded as Mary Margaret's jaw dropped.

 _"I do not nag!"_ She protested before Regina raised a hand towards a stuttering Emma.

"In that case -" She tried to diffuse the situation from any further hole digging. "I think we should make our way to the great hall and you call us as soon as you have finished the translation." The three agreed the plan between them and they finished the mirror call.

Regina and Emma had packed up their things and followed the map carefully through each path and track. Whatever section the map covered, it wasn't far as they had already approached open space in front of guarded walls. It looked like they were approaching from behind with the light of grand buildings still in the distance. Either way, there was no further way could go before being openly exposed or hitting its walls. They hid at the edge of a forest, looking out.

"We haven't heard from them yet. Maybe we should explore the perimeter and see the best way in." Emma sized it up from their spot. "The guards to command, that is. This looks like it probably has very high defences."

"Seriously?" Regina queried, looking back at Emma. She could see there was a single entry with a couple of guards but nothing too threatening. "You know for someone with a criminal record you sure have strange ideas for high security."

"Even those guards open up the grill I don't see how we won't instantly get arrested. Maybe the riddler doesn't know the best way in. It did says he only guides." Emma continued without responding to the dig as Regina narrowed her eyes.

"Or maybe he knows exactly what will happen." Regina took in the scene around them, deciding this looked too easy.

"Regina..." Emma weighed in, anticipating the wave of cynicism.

"No, you know what? I trust your gut Emma but I also trust mine. You were right, before. I do have experience so let me use it. I think we need to drag that cryptic moron back here and demand the truth from him."

"OK." Emma agreed, knowing they had the means. "But how? We don't know how to summon him."

Regina thought back to their steps before. "I ripped this out of his coat yesterday when I tried to grab him." She pulled out a watch.

"Well look at you, pickpocket. I thought you'd have classed that as one of my methods." Emma raised an eyebrow.

Regina rolled her eyes instead of rising to the comment and positioned her hand over the watch.

"If he is anything like the creatures I've come across in Wonderland, I think I know something I can use to bring him here. Now we have the truth extractor we can maybe get something useful out of him." She clasped the watch in her hands and put them behind her back inconspicuously, slowly rippling her fingers over the timepiece.

Soon enough there was a crack of smoke and the cat puffed into the air. His face was riddled with confusion and he tried to zip away but Regina instantly dragged him back with her magic.

Once again he popped away and on the third summon Regina greeted him with a shout.

"We can do this all day, riddler." Regina threatened as he finally ceased trying to fight it.

"Riddles I have, but answers not - I will not be comman-"

"Can it, cat." Emma sprinkled the water onto a sheet of paper.

The cat looked on nervously.

"The cup is used to control words not for other wisdom pearls."

"Look at that...he's hiding something." Regina purred pacing around him as the cat tried to disappear again but he came screeching back and shouted in frustration.

"What is this? I am not foe!"

"Are we going to get caught by the guards straight away?"

 _ **"Yes. The guards will catch you this way."**_

Biting her bottom lip, Regina darted Emma with a glare as they both considered the implications of what the riddler had just admitted. For Regina, the confession was confirmation of something she had feared all along, for Emma it was a sign that they may be about to start playing an entirely different game.

* * *

 _ **Next Chapter Preview:**_

 _ **"We've been blindly following, doing his bidding. Manipulated to -"**_

 _ **"Regina!" Emma cut her off more firmly, pointing.**_

 _ **"What?" She snapped back.**_

 _ **Emma paused, looking ahead towards the residue the riddler had left.**_


	12. Revelations

_**Wow, it has been a long time and I do apologise for that! As I say, the story is fully completed so will be fully published eventually.**_

 _ **I realise people may have forgotten what was going on before, so it may be a good idea to skim over previous chapters to refresh your memory. If not, a brief summary is that Regina and Emma are exploring a strange land to try and restore lost magic to Storybrooke. The only thing is, they know nothing about how magic disappeared or who is behind it. So far they have been guided by a mysterious riddler and have had to get through various challenges to try and figure out where and what they are dealing with. Their only source of magic has been two amulets with a distilled amount stored within them, but their latest quest resulted in one of these finally draining. They did however rescue a valuable prize in doing so; a priceless cup. Now down to one amulet between them, their latest find allows them to force anyone to tell the truth, something they are using to their advantage in order to try and work out more pieces of the puzzle...**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 12**_

Realising what he had admitted, the cat began to hop and stammer in desperate anguish.

"No! That is not what I meant. That is true, but caught or not it's how you get the magic!"

He threw his claws to his mouth and tried to run as Emma and Regina exchanged a look of doubt.

"So our magic is definitely in this place?" Emma asked.

"This is not my role! You cannot...keep me...here!" The creature strained trying to pop away but each time Regina tightened her grip on the magic, trying to keep her disposition cool so as not to give away her method.

"Oh look. The rhyming has stopped." She goaded. "That didn't answer the question though.

"It looks like we need to do it per question." Emma realised, quickly sprinkling again.

"Is our magic in this hall place?" Emma repeated more firmly

 _ **"Yes."**_ The cat creased in pain trying to fight both the magical obligation and the magical pull.

"I do not take your commands!" The cat was incensed. "I guide! Do not test me!" He fumed, manic in his conviction to stay to his scripts. The two women were un-phased at his protests.

"Who sent you and who has our magic?" Regina jumped in as Emma quickly doused the note again.

The cat gripped down tightly on his lips and tried to muffle it with his scarf. The response was inaudible as he tried to pop away again, Regina's frustration growing, she jerked her arms down this time as she commanded him back.

"Who. Sent. You?" Emma demanded. This time the cat grabbed his tongue and began to spring around in front of them, making it impossible to understand. Taking advantage of their distraction to decipher it, he began to pick up his speed as he zipped around. Regina desperately tried to recall him but his pace and skill were too much and she let the watch slip into view in her haste. Before she knew it, it had been snatched back.

With the upper hand, the tone of the creature was now menacing.

 _"You tried to cheat, this was not fair! You can't pull shortcuts from the air. You stole my watch but you waste time as this must be your final rhyme."_ He croaked before evaporating into smoke with nothing but a sparkly shower.

"Slippery bastard!" Regina cursed, slapping her arms down in frustration.

"I knew it! I knew he was a plant. I knew this was a trick! How could we be so misled?"

"Regina. We don't know that-" Emma tried to calm her as the queen continued the tirade but soon her attention had switched to something else.

"We've been blindly following, doing his bidding. Manipulated to -"

 _"Regina!"_ Emma cut her off more firmly, pointing.

"What?" She snapped back.

Emma paused, looking ahead towards the residue the riddler had left.

"When did his glitter change colour?"

"His what? Emma, don't try to divert my attention! Nothing has changed."

She looked but saw no difference from before.

Frustrated, Emma bent down and scooped some up. "You can argue with me over grand cities but you cannot look at this and tell me this isn't a different colour from before!" She forced it into Regina's hand who examined it closer, still unsure of what change Emma was talking about.

Now with a new lease of curiosity Emma began to run along the last trail left by the riddler, her pace quickening as it led her out the forest into the field in front.

"He isn't meant to be evil. That doesn't make sense..." She was muttering as Regina grew frustrated, striding after her.

"Emma! Get back here." She whispered harshly, knowing they were drawing closer and soon would be seen.

"This isn't right..." Emma became possessed, following the line as it stretched towards some flower beds around the side. She tried to keep low to avoid attracting the attention of the guards.

"The flowers stretch round to the side. They're tall enough to hide in if we crawl."

"What _flowers?_ Emma! I don't know what you think you see. Nothing has changed since we got here -" Regina paused, frozen in the spot. "The amulets...your power drained inside the cave..." She whispered to herself, her face flooding with fear as she looked down, placing a hand on the stone around her neck. "brighter...and there was the city...". Her eyes danced as she filtered through the thoughts. She ripped the amulet from her neck and looked at it, a ball of fear plunging through her stomach. "These aren't mine." She braced herself before raising her head to look at the world around them. The stone of the wall looked different, the light around was brighter and worst of all she suddenly saw the field she had watched Emma running through no longer appeared to be just grass.

"Emma don't go any further!" She commanded with a crack of fear in her voice that made Emma halt among the red flowers she was striding through. As she turned she began to sway.

"Regina...? What is...why do I suddenly feel -" she was cut off by her own collapse.

"Dammit Swan!" Regina cursed under her breath as she ran towards her, knowing what would follow.

She took a deep breath and grabbed the cup from Emma's hand. Taking the amulet in the other and wrapping it around her hand as best she could, fighting the pull. She shoved the cup into her bag using what magic she could muster to hide it, but her last drops of her energy were spent slipping the necklace neatly into her bra. Finally the weight of her eyelids became too much and she collapsed among the poppies.

* * *

Regina came-to lying on a stone bench in a cell. There was no sign of guards but the door was made of thick steel and it was unlikely that guards were needed. The cell was dark, apart from a thin veil of light coming in through a crack of a window near the ceiling.

She looked to Emma's restful body next to her.

"Wake up, Swan." She patted the leg beside her roughly until a groan emerged from among the blonde strands hung over the face it belonged to.

"Quit it..."

"I'll quit it when you get up. Though maybe having you unconscious is better, less chance of you doing something as moronic as running through a poppy field." Emma sat up, confused, brushing back her hair from her face.

"Poppy field? What does that mean? Do you know where we are?"

"Unfortunately, poppies appear in all our lands but what I do know is that wherever we are, the world was hiding itself...or its traps at least. I think there was some kind of glamour spell laced in the amulets. Everything around us is disguised if we are wearing them." She grumbled, leaning up against the wall.

"But you made them?" Emma tried to process the information as Regina clicked her tongue.

"Well clearly they're not my ones. They were changed or corrupted. I would have warned you in advance of your rampant glitter chasing but by the time I saw them it was too late."

"Then if you'd figured it out why did you come running in after me?" Emma defended herself wearily, her head throbbing from where she had knocked it with her fall.

"I couldn't exactly leave you!"

"You had your amulet...why not fly in, grab me and run?"

"I...was caught off-guard..." she fluffed, a little embarrassed she hadn't thought of that but quickly turned it into defensiveness. "The important thing is that these amulets aren't mine and they haven't been since we retrieved them. It's the only explanation." She reasoned. "It explains why they have been working strangely. It explains why you were seeing a different world from me." Her voice ramped up with frustration. "It _explains_ why we are now in a jail cell because you insisted on trusting that damn cat!" Emma pulled her head up from its position in her hands, too drowsy to keep fighting her corner.

"Your irrational yelling at me aside, I don't understand how the world could be disguised? How could that have worked?" Emma tried to process the abundance of information.

"I never took my amulet off and you lost your power in the well. Only patches would have been glamoured and probably subtly. Bits they knew we'd recognise. We didn't notice because it didn't ever change right in front of us."

"Except I _did_ notice...and I don't know why you're yelling at me. You're the one who made us use the amulets." Emma added resentfully, now having a new wave of energy to resume defending herself.

"Well that doesn't change the fact we were both tricked." Regina folded her arms defiantly. "That damn cat has been playing us all along."

"The cat wouldn't have the power to make those amulets and besides, we don't even know he did trick us -"

"He led us into a trap!" Regina spat back.

"He...well..." Emma stuttered, desperate to keep some hope. "Look, I just don't think we know he is behind this. He said getting caught was what was needed...and either way he led us _away_ from the poppies! It was me that changed route. They're not meant to be evil, that's what Belle said."

"Oh spare me the naïve, inane optimism, Emma. You were a dark one. _I_ was driven to destroy the lives of an entire realm because of a ten year old. In fact that ten year old even murdered my mother! Don't look me in the eye and imply that people - _or things -_ can't be corruptible." Regina shot back, flapping her arms in anger.

"OK enough!" Emma halted their fight and took a pause. "We could go on bickering about it all day but none of that is going to help. You blaming me isn't going to change anything -"

"Well, blaming you is what I do." Regina snapped back petulantly before pulling back and feeling a flash of guilt, sitting back down. "I just wish I'd followed my gut." She groaned. "It's no more your fault than mine. I should have insisted, I should know better than to let Charmings call the shots." She conceded.

"I guess that's the best apology I'll get so I'll take it." Emma folded her arms, sitting next to her. "And for what it's worth, I know I should pay more attention to you. I just get carried away."

The two of them sat in silence for a moment before Emma noticed Regina still had her bag.

"Did they take the cup?" She asked, seeing it was much emptier than before.

"Not if my concealment spell worked." Regina struggled, reaching into her bra where she had hidden the amulet. Emma gave her a puzzled look, raising an eyebrow.

"You got the cup in there too?" She teased as Regina placed the necklace around her neck

"I was using my assets." She retorted defensively at the widened blue eyes. "I couldn't hide it with magic so I improvised."

Emma tried to suppress a smirk.

"You can have an opinion on my decisions when you stay conscious long enough to voice them." The queen silenced her, picking up her bag and reaching through her hiding spell to feel the cup was still there. It had clearly been searched with anything of value removed but the spell had worked to conceal the treasure.

"The amulet still works but there must be a magic block on the cell." She mumbled, assessing their surroundings. "They wouldn't be that stupid..." She looked to the walls but decided to try anyway. Her purple smoke had barely cleared before she came crashing back down, snarling a curse.

She slapped her hands off the floor. "I knew that was too good to be true." Emma helped her off the up as Regina squinted up to a stream of light, glinting through a crack of a window near the ceiling.

"So what are we dealing with?" Emma decided to bring it back to business. "What changed with the glamour? The riddler's dust was more greeny yellow, the poppies were disguised. They knew that we would recognise the city...or you at least you would considering you'd probably tried to conquer it at some point and I doubt they were expecting me to -"

"What did you just say?" Regina cut Emma off briskly, catching onto new information. Emma looked back, eyes widened and began to backtrack.

"I don't mean it as an insult, just that they'd know you would be more likely to recognise - "

"The dust, Swan!" Regina shook her head, flustered. "What colour did you just say?"

Before Emma could answer they were interrupted by the sound of an altercation outside.

They both ran to the door but there wasn't enough of a gap to see. There was a clatter and a shout and a key then appeared in the door. It clicked open as the two stepped back.

"You need to move. _Now!"_ A voice shouted. It was obscured by a helmet and the body by full armour.

"You expect us to just follow you? Who are you?" Regina interrogated him.

"We have a common enemy in this land. If you want to ever get your magic back you need to trust me." He put a hand to his chest.

"I know that voice..." Emma whispered, a look of confusion growing across her face.

"Then that's all the confirmation you need. Now _run!"_ He added, grabbing Emma's arm and pulling her out. Regina ran behind just as another selection of guards appeared. Regina threw them back with a blast as Emma shook off his grip but continued to follow. As they ran to another corner, two guards appeared ahead of them. Swinging his sword he knocked one out as Emma booted another and Regina sent the two coming behind to the floor.

"In here!" Their rescuer yelled, leading them into a room with a fireplace. He pulled a candle stick on it and a door opened up into a hidden room. It was a tucked away study with a desk and books scattered around, but most importantly the guards had not followed them.

Deciding to take their chances, they ran in and he closed the door behind them. "They don't know this room exists." He panted as Emma looked him up and down, recognising the voice again.

"Wait a minute..." She paused as sudden realisation hit her. Kicking him backwards against the wall she ripped off his helmet and stole his sword, pressing it against his neck.

"Regina, prepare to fire." She ordered as the man yelped in fear. Regina drew a fireball as his Adam's apple pulsed dangerously close to the blade. Tearing down his collar she found the scar on the right of his neck and instantly knew the desperate look in his eye.

* * *

 ** _"Call me a sidekick again and you'll feel just how powerful I am." Regina retorted, flinging the ball inches from his head before conjuring another and moving a step closer. Taking advantage of the moment of silence she leaned in closer to Emma. "Whoever this is, we need to get out of here. You said the dust was greeny yellow - "_**

 ** _"Not now Regina!" Emma silenced her, so haunted by what she had in front of her and the memory of how he had manipulated her that she had room in her brain for nothing else. Regina huffed out her frustration, realising that intervention was futile._**

 ** _"How do you expect me to trust you after what you did?" Emma barked, pressing the sword against him closer, but desperately trying to find some look of regret._**


End file.
